Charges after truck hijacking

B.C. MAN CHARGED AFTER TRUCK COMMANDEERED AND DRIVER HELD CAPTIVE

A British Columbia man is facing several charges including kidnapping and use of a firearm after a semi-tractor trailer and its driver were allegedly commandeered by an armed assailant earlier this week.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the incident began late Monday afternoon when a Mountie found a man slumped over in his running van near Avola, B.C. As the officer was putting the suspect into a police car he overpowered him and drove off in his original vehicle.

In what Moskaluk described as a “very dynamic situation” the driver allegedly forced a pickup truck to pull over but was unsuccessful in taking the vehicle, then took off again when police arrived.

Moskaluk said the man ended up stopping at a roadside turnout north of Kamloops where semi-tractor trailers were parked.

He approached one of the vehicles, smashed out a window and attempted unsuccessfully to convince the trucker to drive him away, Moskaluk said.

The man then jumped into a second truck loaded with wood and is alleged by police to have threatened the driver and brandished a gun.

“Now the truck driver proceeded with the suspect southbound with police officers responding in the vicinity with several unmarked vehicles,” said Moskaluk.

“Essentially they joined into a convoy, unbeknownst to the suspect and were following the truck at a safe distance.”

The driver of the truck was able to receive instructions from police by phone and convinced the suspect he was speaking to his dispatcher in order avoid suspicion.

The driver was able to jump out of the semi when he pulled into a weigh scale station west of Kamloops and sought shelter with officers on scene.