A 31-year-old Calgary man is facing 16 criminal charges after leading members of Northwest RCMP detachments on a 120-kilometre pursuit lasting 90 minutes Tuesday morning.
The pursuit began at 10:20 a.m. when Unity RCMP, investigating a break and enter and multiple thefts of vehicles in and around that community, received a report of a suspicious vehicle in the area.
A suspect vehicle from a break and enter was seen pulling a trailer stolen from a business at Kerrobert.
The vehicle was spotted near Muddy Lake, south of Unity. Police say other units in the area were notified of the location before the vehicle was approached and emergency signals employed. At that point the suspect vehicle attempted to ram the police unit and fled.
Police say spike belts were deployed at two separate locations, but the suspect drove through ditches, fences and fields to avoid them. The pursuit was mainly along grid roads, across fields and on rural sections of Highways 21, 771 and 31.
The vehicle was eventually stopped in Macklin, where town personnel had used equipment to barricade access to the town on Highway 31. Police say the suspect vehicle drove across the Macklin golf course in an attempt to bypass the barricade and police roadblocks. An RCMP unit was rammed before the pursued vehicle attempted to flee westbound on the CPR tracks. Police say, the wheels of the trailer blew out and the truck was unable to continue.
The fleeing man then attempted to start one of the stolen snowmobiles in his possession before being taken into custody.
Railway traffic was stopped for about two hours until the truck and trailer were removed and the tracks examined for possible damage.
Police say the investigation continues, but 31-year-old Kristopher Walter Kowalyk made appearances in North Battleford Provincial Court Wednesday and Thursday charged with: two counts of assaulting a police officer; break and enter; flight from police; dangerous driving; four counts of possession of property obtained by crime with a value greater than $5,000; two counts of possession of property obtained by crime with value less than $5,000; possession of break and enter instruments; possession of a controlled substance; and four counts of mischief under $5,000.
Assisting in the pursuit were RCMP from Kerrobert, Provost, Luseland and the RCMP Service Dog Unit from North Battleford.
