High-speed chase on TCH ends in impaired charge

A Manitoba woman is facing REGINA multiple charges, including impaired driving, after a high-speed chase ended with police pushing her vehicle off the Trans-canada Highway and into a ditch.

Around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday night, Swift Current Rural RCMP received 10 reports of an erratic car travelling at a high speed eastbound on the highway near Gull Lake. Callers indicated part of the vehicle's windshield was smashed out and there were no lights on except hazards.

According to a release sent by the RCMP on Friday, the car reportedly stopped and started driving again multiple times on the highway, drove in the wrong direction, turned back around and stopped in the passing lane before driving eastbound again.

Officers from the Swift Current Municipal, Rural and Maple Creek RCMP detachments responded and located the unregistered car on the Trans-canada Highway west of Swift Current, driving in the eastbound lane. An officer activated their vehicle's emergency equipment and attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the car did not stop.

As police officers followed the car, the vehicle accelerated upwards of 200 km/h and then abruptly stopped multiple times. For officer safety reasons, a spike belt could not be used, police said.

For public safety reasons due to the proximity of Swift Current, an RCMP vehicle made “strategic contact with the car, pushing it off the highway and into the eastbound south ditch.”

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, a 38-year-old woman from Manitoba, was arrested at the scene. EMS attended the scene but no medical treatment was required.

Staff Sgt. Evan Gordon, Swift Current Municipal RCMP detachment commander, said the situation developed quickly from the first calls until the arrest was made.

“Thank you to witnesses for picking up the phone and calling police, which prompted a swift response,” Gordon said in the release.

“Especially considering the time of day when many motorists were on the road, we're thankful there were no injuries reported.”

The woman is charged with flight from police, impaired operation of a conveyance, dangerous operation of a conveyance, refusal of demand made, possession of stolen property and breach of probation order.

Police report the woman was also wanted on several warrants out of Manitoba.

She appeared in Swift Current provincial court on Thursday and remanded in custody until her Friday morning appearance.