Man leads Durham cops on epic chopper chase
Thermal imaging helps track nighttime leadfoot in longest pursuit in Ontario history
Police released a thermal imaging video Wednesday of a dramatic highspeed helicopter chase that went on for 154 kilometres before an Oshawa man was arrested.
Durham police said the helicopter chase is believed to be the secondlongest in Canadian history, and the longest ever in Ontario.
The incident started in Oshawa at Rossland Rd. W. and Stevenson Rd. N. on Jan. 27 at about 2:30 a.m., when a woman called 911 to report that a man she knew was following her, police said.
“He was driving erratically behind her and was trying to ram her vehicle,” police said in a news release Wednesday.
The 911 operator told the woman to drive toward the police division in Whitby. The car fled once the drivers saw officers, police allege, and that’s where the chase began.
“I just clocked him at 237 km/h,” an officer said in the video.
The car sped onto Hwy. 401 eastbound, travelling nearly to Peterborough before turning around and driving back toward the Durham region.
“We have a crazy headwind here, so at the speeds he’s going to be running, it’s going to be hard for us to keep up with him,” said an officer in the helicopter.
Officers strategically placed a tire deflation device on Ganaraska Rd. The video showed the car slowing to a stop.
“Stay off the air, guys, he’s going to bail,” an officer said in the video. “He’s going to be mine.”
At this point, a bright figure popped out of the driver’s side and made a break for the woods.
After a few seconds of running, the figure appeared to drop something. The person sprints back to pick it up, then keeps running.
Ontario Provincial Police cars pulled up and officers began chasing the figure on foot.
Over the fence, the figure started walking towards a creek, then appeared to toss an object into the trees. The officers on the ground closed in. And then, moments later, an officer’s voice came across the radio: “We have one in custody here.”
Durham police charged a 47-yearold Oshawa man, but withheld his name because of the domestic nature of the incident.
He’s charged with possession of cocaine, heroin and MDMA for the purposes of trafficking. He also faces charges for criminal harassment, racing a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a vehicle and driving while under suspension.