Police northwest of Edmonton said a man was facing dozens of charges, after an incident with police unfolded last week in Whitecourt.
Whitecourt RCMP said on Thursday, February 26 at about 6:20 a.m., officers were dispatched to a complaint of a possible impaired driver, where the vehicle was parked in the middle of Old Blue Ridge Highway, between Whitecourt and Blue Ridge.
The vehicle was found, and RCMP said an altercation with officers and the lone occupant, identified as Bradley Duff, 29, ensued – and Duff escaped in the vehicle he had been driving.
Officers found the vehicle a few kilometres away, and RCMP formed a perimeter, but police said Duff accelerated, narrowly missed officers on foot, before hitting an unmarked and unoccupied police truck, and two unoccupied police cruisers that had been parked to block the road.
In the process, police said Duff rolled his vehicle, and tried to flee on foot by running into the trees – where he was apprehended by RCMP Police Dog Service members.
Police found the truck Duff was driving, along with the snowmobile in the cargo area were both stolen, and police recovered a loaded .357 magnum handgun, a high-powered rifle, a flare gun that had been altered to shoot shotgun shells, 33 grams of what appeared to be methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and stolen chainsaws.
Duff is facing 36 charges, including assaulting a police officer, evading police, resisting arrest, possession of stolen property under, and over, $5,000, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition while prohibited, mischief, breach of recognizance and driving while disqualified.
Duff remains in custody, and is scheduled to appear in a Whitecourt courtroom Tuesday, March 10 via CCTV.
