Man wanted on new charges after fleeing traffic stop

A Digby County man who once struck a police officer with his vehicle while fleeing arrest in Windsor is wanted again for driving off after being pulled over.

RCMP applied for and received a warrant Thursday, Aug. 3 for the arrest of 28-year-old Cody Andrew Prudhomme, of Barton.

Cpl. Chris Marshall said an officer spotted Prudhomme driving on Highway 217 in Seabrook, Digby County at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 2. The officer knew Prudhomme was criminally prohibited from driving and pulled him over. When he got to Prudhomme’s door, he told him he was under arrest for prohibited driving and told him to get out of the truck, at which point Prudhomme sped off.

“It was a high rate of speed, he was passing vehicles going down the highway and conducting dangerous passes as he fled the area,” Marshall said.

“The speed with which he sped away and the dangerous passes that he made could have certainly caused a collision.”

He said the officer had backed away slightly from the truck because he “had a feeling that something was about to happen” and wasn’t hurt.

The truck disappeared from sight quickly and the officer was unable to follow it.

Prudhomme is charged with dangerous driving, resisting arrest, flight from police, driving while prohibited, escaping custody and breaching a court order.

As of press time, police haven’t been able to locate Prudhomme and are requesting assistance from the public.

He is described as five-footnine and weighs 180 pounds, has dark brown hair and blue eyes. He is believed to be driving a black older model Ford heavy-duty pickup truck, with a cap over the bed of the truck. The truck has a temporary permit in the window.

In September 2014, Prudhomme drove over a police officer who was trying to arrest him for a series of gasand-dash incidents in Hants County. The officer spotted him at a gas station and told him he was under arrest, a struggle ensued with the officer partly in the truck and Prudhomme behind the wheel. The officer fell and Prudhomme sped off, running over the officer’s legs and causing several bone fractures.

A few months later, in January 2015 and while out on bail, Prudhomme stole a relative’s vehicle and headed for Ontario. He stole another vehicle in New Brunswick on the way, and once in Ontario, stole gas from another gas station. Ontario Provincial Police spotted his vehicle, beginning a 90-minute pursuit that saw a highway shut down and two spike belts deployed before the stolen vehicle was finally stopped after colliding with police cruisers.

Prudhomme fled on foot but was found hiding in another vehicle at a nearby property and arrested.

Anyone with information on Prudhomme’s whereabouts is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.