Spike belt slows flight of driver from police

A dangerous driver took police on a chase from Kelowna to Lake Country Thursday morning before officers used a spike belt to slow him down.

Kelowna RCMP received a report of a man who appeared to be asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle with the engine running in the Wilden area of Kelowna just before 10 a.m.

An officer approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and knocked on the window.

The driver did not comply with the officer’s request to shut off the engine and instead drove off, said Cpl. Tania Carroll.

The officer was hit with the driver’s side of the vehicle and suffered injuries that weren’t life threatening.

The driver did not stop after hitting the officer.

Lake Country Mounties intercepted the driver as he entered Lake Country, but the man kept driving and officers pursued him for 10 minutes, said Carroll.

Mounties deployed a spike belt, which deflated some of the tires on the suspect vehicle.

The man continued driving and collided with a marked police vehicle.

The suspect vehicle ended up in a ditch, and the man fled on foot.

After a short foot chase into the bush, the man was apprehended and arrested.

He faces possible charges of dangerous driving, fleeing from police and assaulting a police officer, among other charges.