FILE PHOTO

(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops RCMP have determined a pickup truck that had been driving erratically earlier today, and then crashed, was a stolen vehicle.

Earlier today, Oct. 16, police said they received reports of a suspicious pickup truck driving northbound on Westsyde Road just before 1 p.m., according to an RCMP media release.

Police also said a man could be seen on the flatbed of the truck as it was moving.

It turns out the pickup had been stolen out of Kamloops on Oct. 11.

Police say today's events started when a friend of the owner saw the stolen truck on the Halston Connector. The friend contacted the owner and followed the truck and told the owner it's location. Police say the truck stopped long enough in a residential area of Brocklehurst for the owner to attend.

When the owner approached the vehicle, the suspects began to drive away and the owner jumped into the cargo bed.

"Allegedly, the vehicle proceeded down Parkcrest Avenue where it hit a power pole. It then went down Singh Street, Ord Road and made its way onto Westsyde Road with the owner still clinging onto the back of the pickup truck," Kamloops RCMP media spokesperson Cpl. Jodi Shelkie said in the release.

Witnesses indicated the truck was driving into oncoming traffic, going through red lights and at times exceeded 100 km/h on Westsyde Road. Police say the vehicle also struck three moving vehicles. There were no injuries to the occupants of these vehicles, police say.

When police attended they found the pickup had left the roadway and crashed through a fence before coming to a stop in a field before starting on fire.

Both the suspects in the vehicle and the owner made it out of the vehicle safely. Police attempted to put out the flames with fire extinguishers but were not successful and the vehicle was engulfed.

The two suspects were arrested at the scene before being taken to a local medical facility with non-life threatening injuries. The owner did not sustain any injuries.

Police say all investigational information has been forwarded to the B.C. Prosecution Service to determine charges.

“We are very thankful that there were no serious injuries to anyone involved in this situation,” Shelkie says. “We suggest that the public contact the police if they witness a stolen vehicle being driven. Luckily, the owner was not injured but it could have been a very different outcome.”

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