A man who allegedly stole a construction backhoe and led the Laval Police and the Sûreté du Québec on a chase through the City of Laval’s industrial sector was finally arrested after driving into a ravine in the district of Vimont.
At one point during the mid-afternoon incident, up to ten police cars could be seen pursuing the work vehicle, although quite slowly given the typically low road speed of backhoes.
The police were first alerted by a report that a backhoe driver was ignoring orders to stop while travelling along Route 335 south of Bois-des-Filion.
The driver then reportedly collided with another vehicle, and was spotted some time after this by the SQ on the service road of Autoroute 440.
Still refusing to stop, the backhoe driver made his way along Industriel Blvd. and on Dagenais Blvd. Ouest, all the while going through red lights and stop signs without even slowing.
After driving into the rear yard of an industrial business on Dagenais, he tried driving into an adjacent wooded area, but stalled in a waterlogged ravine where he got out and fled on foot.
The LPD eventually caught up to the 42-year-old suspect, who was reportedly known to police. However, they had to stun him with a jolt from a Taser before he could be detained.
Although he was transported by ambulance to hospital as a precautionary measure, he was scheduled to be arraigned at the Palais de Justice de Laval on Saint-Martin Blvd. to face charges of dangerous driving, evading police, interfering with police, possession of stolen property and breaking court-imposed conditions.
As a footnote, the backhoe itself had first been reported stolen in Ottawa. There was no immediate explanation from police as to how it ended up in Laval.
