RCMP on scene on West Kelowna's Grizzly Road following an arrest March 7, 2022.

Image Credit: Marshall Jones

A suspect is facing multiple charges of theft and firing a gun after he was arrested today for stealing multiple vehicles in the Central Okanagan.

Lake Country resident Kai Merkel said he was driving his CRV along Glenmore Road when a Ford F-150 truck hit the back of his vehicle, causing him to crash into the side of the road this morning, March 7. It also hit several vehicles behind him.

A woman in another vehicle appeared to be in distress so he ran over to check on her. It was then Merkel noticed the man from the F-150 truck that caused the crash was trying to get into another vehicle.

Merkel said he was shot at and pepper-sprayed while trying to help another man stop the suspect.

READ MORE: iN VIDEO: Dramatic RCMP arrest of carjacking suspect caught on dashcam

Insp. Adam MacIntosh, an investigator with Kelowna RCMP, said the Ford F-150 was stolen March 5. The suspect tried to take another vehicle by force and he drew a firearm on two good Samaritans who had stopped to assist with the accident and also bear sprayed them.

“They experienced what I would argue was a potentially near-death situation, all based on trying to help one another,” Insp. MacIntosh said. “I would never recommend people utilizing an action on their own with force in situations like that but sometimes it happens in front of you and you have no other options but to defend yourself.”

The suspect then aimed a gun at another man and stole his black 2021 Chevy Silverado truck and fled southbound down Glenmore Road, he said.

The driver was not obeying traffic laws and the RCMP did not pursue him, instead following him by air. The driver was unaware of being followed by the RCMP before they attempted to stop him using a traffic stop on Grizzly Road in West Kelowna.

Inspector Adam MacIntosh with the Kelowna RCMP during a press conference, March 7, 2022.

(CARLI BERRY - WEEKEND EDITOR / iNFOnews.ca)

RCMP officers shot at the suspect with 40-millimetre rounds and they believe he was struck at least once, he said, while trying to stop him. “It’s a less-lethal round designed to incapacitate somebody,” MacIntosh said.

The driver fled on foot to Highway 97 and tried to steal another vehicle before he was arrested.

A 33-year-old man was arrested and firearms were seized at the scene, MacIntosh said.

Police will be recommending charges to Crown counsel and the investigation in ongoing.

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