A 41-year-old man faces a dozen charges related to weapons and property offences after Oceanside RCMP tracked him down near the Bowser Legion as he attempted to break into a parked vehicle.
Police began to receive reports about a suspicious pickup truck on Highway 19A close to Qualicum Bay and Bowser around 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 12.
The first caller reported a man in medical distress and BC Ambulance was requested to assist. The male drove away northbound on Highway 19A before the ambulance arrived, according a media release by Sgt. Shane Worth of the Oceanside RCMP.
The second caller reported the truck had crashed on the highway. A man exited the vehicle, but then got back in and continued to drive northbound. At some point while the vehicle was stopped, the man tried to punch a passerby who stopped to check on him, police said.
RCMP received a third call from a business in the Bowser area, reporting the pickup truck had driven into their fence and caused damage. The male driver fled on foot and a female passenger remained inside the pickup truck. It was reported the male may have been in possession of a handgun, according to police.
RCMP responded to the business and arrested the woman. A police dog then tracked the male suspect to the area of the Bowser Legion, where he was arrested while breaking into a parked vehicle. Police said a replica handgun was recovered.
The truck the man was driving was reported stolen from Duncan on November 9 and a rifle located inside the vehicle was reported stolen from Campbell River on November 11, police said.
RCMP said their investigation determined the male, using the same stolen pickup truck, had broken into a fenced compound in the 1000 block of Herring Gull Way in Parksville, as well as a trespassed in the 1400 block of Cimarron Court, also in Parksville, in the hours before his arrest.
The woman was released from custody to appear in court at a later date. The man appeared before a justice and was remanded in custody to appear in court today (Nov. 16).
