How do I...
If the crime you are reporting is an emergency, call 9-1-1.
If the crime you are reporting is not an emergency, you can call the non-emergency line at 604-525-5411 or attend our Front Counter at 555 Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC.
Shortly after 1200 hours today a New Westminster Police officer on routine patrol observed that a security gate had been rammed through at an abandoned mill on Duncan Street in Queensborough. The officer then saw a male and a female suspect loading items from the mill into the back of a large cube van which was parked with the engine running on the mill property.
The officer called for assistance; however, prior to other officers arriving, the suspects observed the police vehicle and immediately got back into the van and fled. In doing so, the van clipped the back of the parked police vehicle prior to exiting onto Duncan Street.
The officer followed the suspects and attempted to get them to pull over without success. At Ewen Avenue and Howes Street, the cube van hit a Mercury Sable sedan in the intersection but did not stop. At this time the officer ceased his efforts to stop the van and pulled over to assist the occupants of the vehicle which had been struck.
Minutes later another officer observed the van on Boyd Street; as the driver had already demonstrated his disregard for other motorists and had refused to stop for police, no additional efforts were made to pull him over.
Unfortunately, for reasons which are unclear, the driver of the van subsequently drove into oncoming traffic on the southbound exit lane from the Queensborough Bridge. In doing so, the suspects drove head-on into a Mazda pick-up truck which had been travelling over the bridge. The suspects immediately fled on foot; the male driver was apprehended quickly and his accomplice was located approximately fifteen minutes later with the assistance of several Canine Units.
The driver of the Mazda pick-up is currently in hospital in serious condition. A seventy-five-year-old woman who was in the vehicle which was initially hit on Ewen Avenue is also in hospital; however, her injuries are fortunately much less severe.
Accident investigators and the Forensic Identification Section are currently at the scene of the head-on accident and it is anticipated that the southbound lanes on the Queensborough Bridge will be closed for several more hours.
Both suspects remain in custody and investigators are currently reviewing charges.
