Friday proved to be an exciting and potentially deadly day for one Cranbrook police officer.
On Friday, July 5 at 1:30 p.m. Cranbrook RCMP began combing the city and surrounding area on a report of a truck stolen from Van Horne Street in Cranbrook.
The police officer — who wasn't identified in a subsequent press release — located the suspected stolen truck at on Hwy 93/95 just north of the Wasa turnoff.
When the officer tried to confront the suspect male driver and female passenger, the driver of the truck drove towards him.
The officer managed to avoid the truck and fire off his sidearm, hitting at least one of the vehicle's driver-side tires (though both were confirmed flat at the end of the chase.
The officer then got in his vehicle and pursued the suspect truck — noting once that the vehicle was hitting speeds of 135 km and difficult to keep up with.
Officers from Cranbrook and Invermere were scrambled in the Wasa direction.
The suspect vehicle turned off on a road near the Skookumchuck mill, stopped and the officer was able to take both into custody, before awaiting reinforcements.
In a press release police said the suspect driver was not a local man but was known to police elsewhere and the female passenger was detained as a person of interest.
No one was injured as a result of this incident and the police investigation is continuing.