(SOUTHWOLD TOWNSHIP, ON) – Police officers from the Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Middlesex County OPP, the OPP West Region Highway Safety Division (HSD), the Oneida Nation of the Thames First Nation Police, and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation Police, apprehended two males for crimes which were committed in Elgin County.
Shortly after 6:00 p.m. on September 23, 2016, a stolen vehicle was observed on Southdel Bourne by police. Officers conducted a traffic stop, but the motor vehicle, a white pickup truck, failed to stop for police, and continued driving erratically, last seen exiting from Highway 401 in the Sheddon, Ontario, area.
The two suspects proceeded to a residential property in Sheddon, Ontario, where they broke into a dwelling, and stole keys for a blue pickup truck in which they departed, abandoning the first stolen pickup truck on the property.
The blue pickup truck was immediately located by police travelling on Talbot Line. The stolen vehicle failed to stop, and made contact with two police vehicles on Mill Road. The stolen vehicle then fled onto Longhurst Line, where it made contact with two additional police vehicles.
The suspects abandoned the blue pickup truck on Longhurst Line, flagged down a passing motorist, and assaulted the two occupants in an effort to steal the vehicle. The driver and passenger were not injured, and were able to flee in their vehicle, leaving the suspects behind. The suspects then hid in a ditch, where they were apprehended by police.
Four officers in the police vehicles suffered non-life threatening injuries as a result of the collisions. They were transported to hospital, and have been subsequently discharged. The four police vehicles sustained significant damage and had to be towed from the scene.
The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators (TTCI) attended the scene to assist with the investigation, which is still in its early stages. Longhurst Line from John Wise Line to Mill Road, and Mill Road from Stafford Line to Third Line, were closed overnight.
Two long guns were recovered in the stolen white pickup truck. Weapons charges and numerous other criminal charges are pending against the accused persons: a 26-year-old male from Haldimand County, Ontario, and a 15-year-old male, who cannot be identified as per the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). An update will be released when additional information becomes available.