Suspect dies in hospital after wild chase in stolen vehicle from Port Hope to Newcastle
Published January 10, 2022 at 12:02 am
A suspect involved in two accidents – one in a truck he allegedly car-jacked from a Port Hope drive-thru – has died in hospital.
Whitby OPP officers had to employ a spike belt and a ‘rolling block’ to stop a stolen truck in a wild morning that started in Port Hope with one accident and a subsequent stolen vehicle and ended near Newcastle with the driver bleeding from the neck and another occupant – the suspect – suffering from stab wounds.
The driver was taken to hospital. A second passenger – a woman – was also discovered in the vehicle. She was unharmed.
The Special Investigative Unit was called in and it was the SIU that reported the suspect died in hospital.
Port Hope Police were called about an aggressive driver just before 10 a.m. Sunday and arrived on the scene after the sedan in question crashed into a pickup truck, sending both vehicles into a ditch.
(The driver of the truck had to be airlifted to a trauma centre. Meanwhile, police found a semi-automatic handgun and a machete in the sedan.)
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The scene of the first accident in Port Hope
According to reports from news photographer Austin Brettell (Northumberland County Breakingnewsfeed), the driver of the sedan fled from the scene on foot across Highway 401 and entered the drive-thru of a Tim Horton’s, attempting to hijack a vehicle. After a few attempts – the suspect smashed the window of one vehicle before the victim was able to accelerate out of the drive-thru – the man was able to steal a black Dodge Ram truck with two people still inside.
After escaping on Telephone Road, the suspect vehicle was later spotted by an OPP vehicle and officers initiated a pursuit. The vehicle led police through Newtonville and Newcastle, with Durham Regional Police now also involved in the chase.
After using the spike belt and the rolling block, police were able to stop the vehicle after it struck a cruiser and entered a ditch.
The driver of the stolen vehicle was discovered bleeding from the neck and was taken to hospital. The suspect was airlifted from the scene by Ornge to a Toronto area hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
With files from Austin Brettell and the SIU
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