B.C. man charged with kidnapping

Tractor trailer allegedly commandeered

KAMLOOPS, B.C .• A British Columbia man is facing kidnapping charges after a semi- tractor trailer and its driver were allegedly commandeered by an armed assailant this week.

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

The driver then allegedly forced a pickup truck to pull over but was unsuccessful. He took off again when police arrived.

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

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

The man then j umped into a second truck loaded with wood and is alleged 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 was able to receive instructions from police by phone and convinced the suspect he was speaking to his dispatcher.

The driver jumped out of the semi when he pulled into a weigh scale station west of Kamloops.

Moskaluk says the emergency response team disabled t he t ruck and attempted to force the suspect out of the vehicle using gas canisters.

“He did not e xi t t he vehicle and attempted to drive it further. He only succeeded in driving it a few hundred metres before it slid off the roadway and overturned,” said Moskaluk.

He was arrested with the help of a police dog, suffering minor dog bite injuries.

David Lee Chappell, 33, of the Lower Mainland faces a number of charges including kidnapping and use of a firearm in the commission of an offence.

THEY JOINED INTO A CONVOY, UNBEKNOWNST TO THE SUSPECT.