Harrowing, movie-style chase ends with arrests

Dashboard camera footage shows RCMP officers trying to stop a truck they say was stolen after three suspects led police on a chase through Sundre, Rocky Mountain House and Sylvan Lake on Friday.

“It’s like Grand Theft Auto in real life,” said Tomasz Gorny, who caught the action on his dashboard camera as he was pulled over on the side of the highway and ducked for cover. “This is the stuff we watch in movies.”

RCMP in Sundre first received multiple complaints of someone driving a stolen vehicle erratically and threateningly. The stolen vehicle rammed a bystander’s car before one of three suspects struck the man as he exited his vehicle. The man’s injuries were minor.

By mid-afternoon, RCMP spotted the stolen vehicle again in Rocky Mountain House, but attempts to stop it were unsuccessful.

Gorny was driving east to his home in Blackfalds when he saw the emergency lights from an RCMP cruiser in his rear-view mirror. He looked at his dashboard to check his speed and when he looked up, he saw a truck between him and the cruiser barrelling toward him.

Gorny pulled to the side of the road just as the vehicle blew past him, so close the two vehicles “nearly touched mirrors.”

Gorny turned on his dashboard camera and continued until he saw police vehicles blocking the road in front of him, and heard what sounded like several gunshots.

Officers deployed a spike belt to try to stop the truck north of Sylvan Lake. After the truck hit the spike belt, it turned sharply, and police fired at the vehicle. The stolen truck swerved into the ditch before crossing in front of Gorny’s vehicle and speeding away, with the RCMP in pursuit.

Two of the three suspects ran from the scene and broke into a residence with a family with young children inside, but weren’t able to steal their vehicle. The two suspects then ran to a neighbouring farmhouse where they stole a pickup truck.

When police blocked this stolen truck, the suspects used the truck to ram the police cruiser. Officers again fired at the suspects. All three suspects arrested and two were taken to hospital with injuries. As of Sunday, no charges had been laid.