Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
December 24, 2018 - 11:27 AM
PENTICTON - A Penticton man, who allegedly stole a vehicle in Kelowna and subsequently assaulted two police officers during his attempt to escape arrest, was released on bail last week.
John Bourassa, 39, appeared in Penticton Provincial Court on Dec. 17, according to an RCMP media release.
Bourassa faces a number of charges including assaulting two police officers during his attempt to flee. RCMP say Bourassa was released on bail with a number of conditions, including a nightly curfew. His address provided to courts is located in Penticton. RCMP say officers with the Targeted Enforcement Unit conducted a curfew check of Bourassa, and found he was already breaching his curfew.
Bourassa had allegedly stolen a vehicle from Kelowna on Dec. 11. At about 10:00 a.m. that day a witness, who knew the owner of the vehicle, called 911 and reported seeing the vehicle on Braid Street in Penticton.
General Duty officers, with assistance from the Targeted Enforcement Unit and General Investigative Sections, conducted plainclothes surveillance of the vehicle at the 600 block of Braid Street.
As officers attempted to block the vehicle in and stop the suspect from fleeing, the driver of the stolen vehicle rammed his way out and drove into a fence. Officers had to jump out of the way, as the driver then reversed and smashed into another fence, narrowly missing another police officer and vehicle.
"Due to the extreme danger the driver was putting officers in, a police vehicle was used to push against the vehicle’s rear bumper, pinning it against a fence, preventing it from driving away. While the driver was trying to accelerate forward, officers ran toward it and were able to break a window and remove the driver. After a short struggle with officers, the man was successfully taken into custody," Const. James Grandy said in a media release.
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