Train hits stolen pickup after chase with RCMP from Sorrento to Sicamous

Suspects in a stolen pickup truck led police on a pursuit that went through several jurisdictions and ended near Sicamous after a train hit the suspect vehicle.

It all started when Salmon Arm RCMP officers tried to stop a stolen white Ford E-250 van around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, according to a press release from police issued today, Dec. 12.

The van had been stolen out of New Westminster, but when police tried to stop it near Sorrento it fled, driving into oncoming traffic.

Roughly an hour later, a man reported his father’s Ford F-350 was stolen from their driveway in Sorrento. The thieves had left behind the white van.

Sicamous RCMP later found the F-350 and again tried to stop it. The driver did not comply and rammed into the police car before fleeing.

A Salmon Arm RCMP officer managed to follow the F-350 as it drove east towards Revelstoke.

Revelstoke RCMP were ready with a spike belt that deflated a front tire and knocked another tire off the truck completely.

Police tried again to stop the vehicle, but the F-350 continued eastbound on Highway 1.

A Sicamous RCMP officer got ahead of the stolen truck and deployed another spike belt which deflated another tire.

Then the person behind the wheel of the F-350 turned onto a forest service road and was stopped on train tracks when the pickup couldn’t get traction.

Police got out of their vehicles to arrest the suspects when the train horn blared.

The train was going around 18km/h when it hit the rear driver’s side door of the F-350, spinning it around.

The train stopped and the suspects, 31-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, fled on foot.

Officer chased them on foot but the suspects didn’t get far before they were caught and arrested.

Both suspects were taken to hospital, but they didn’t have any apparent injuries, RCMP said.

“This investigation shows the drive and determination of our officers. It would not have ended with arrests without the fantastic teamwork and communication with neighbouring detachments. Salmon Arm RCMP are recommending multiple charges against the occupants of the vehicle including theft of vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, and assault with a weapon,” Const. Andrew Hodges from Salmon Arm RCMP said in the release.