B.C. man charged after truck drama

KAMLOOPS — A B.C. 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 this week.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the incident began Monday afternoon when a Mountie found a man slumped over in his running van near Avola, about 180 kilometres north of Kamloops.

As the Mountie was putting the suspect into a police car, he overpowered the officer and drove off in his original vehicle. 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 semitractor trailers were parked. He approached one of the vehicles, smashed out a window and tried in vain to persuade 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,” Moskaluk said. “Essentially, they joined into a convoy, unbeknownst to the suspect and were following the truck at a safe distance.”

The truck driver was able to receive instructions from police by phone and persuaded the suspect he was speaking to his dispatcher in order to avoid suspicion. The driver jumped out of the semi when he pulled into a weigh scale station west of Kamloops and sought shelter with officers on scene.

Moskaluk said the emergency response team disabled the truck and attempted to force the suspect out of the vehicle using gas canisters. “He did not exit the 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. “The suspect exited the vehicle only to be met by the awaiting police-service dog team, who effected the arrest without further incident.”

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.