Dangerous highway chase west of Edmonton involved stolen truck with boom ‘swinging wildly into traffic’

A “dangerous” highway chase involving a stolen picker truck west of Edmonton last weekend ended with an arrest.

Parkland RCMP say a 31-year-old man is facing multiple charges after the roughly 40-kilometre pursuit on Highway 43 on June 29.

Mounties say a man abandoned a truck on Highway 43 in Lac Ste. Anne County around 10:30 a.m. The truck had previously been reported stolen from Grande Prairie.

The man then allegedly stole a picker truck from a work site near Glenevis. RCMP responded to try to stop the vehicle.

“This was a very dangerous and dynamic situation because the stolen picker truck boom was extended and swinging wildly into traffic, dragging a welder that had caught fire, during high volume of traffic from a long weekend,” RCMP said in a news release.

Police used a spike strip near Highway 16 and Highway 43 to stop the vehicle, and the suspect was arrested.

“There was some civilian vehicle damage as a result of the debris left on the highway from the fleeing suspect vehicle, however, there were no report of injuries,” RCMP added.

Jesse Caithness-McGregor, of no fixed address, was charged with dangerous driving, possession of stolen property, theft over $5,000, failing to stop for police, mischief, and failing to comply with an order. He is scheduled to appear in court July 11.

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