A 25-year-old man is facing at least seven charges after a police chase across Saskatoon’s west side Wednesday afternoon saw gunshots fired, several police cruisers smashed and numerous vehicles damaged.
Timothy Gunn appeared in Saskatoon Provincial Court Thursday charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle and assault with a weapon — for ramming a police cruiser.
Gunn, who was wanted in Lloydminster in relation to an armed robbery earlier this month, allegedly damaged four police cruisers and at least six civilian vehicles in the span of an hour Wednesday.
The incident began just after 4:30 p.m. when police were called about a truck driving erratically around Avenue I and 19th Street.
Officers pursued the vehicle before the chase was called off at Eighth Street and Lorne Avenue. The vehicle doubled back into the downtown area where the driver crashed into two vehicles while avoiding stop sticks deployed by police at Idylwyld Drive and 20th Street.
The truck continued to Avenue Q where it hit a police cruiser and was involved in three more collisions before moving towards a police officer who was trying to clear people from the sidewalk near Avenue Q and 24th Street, police said.
The officer pulled his gun and fired at least two shots at the suspect vehicle before getting out of the way.
At Fairlight Drive another police cruiser was badly damaged and a third police vehicle was damaged when the officer rammed the truck to bring it to a stop at Circle Drive and 11th Street.
The driver tried to flee on foot but he was arrested with the help of a police dog. Police said the driver suffered injuries from the collisions and from the dog. He was not injured by the gunshots.
One civilian suffered non-life threatening injuries during the incident. No police officers were injured.
More charges may be laid against Gunn, police said.
