North

Fleeing police, man out on bail drives on walking trail, breaks into Yellowknife home

A man who fled from police, drove onto a walking trail, triggered a shelter-in-place advisory for the Chateau Nova hotel in Yellowknife and subsequently broke into a home was on bail at the time and under house arrest, police say.

Man was on house arrest and under driving prohibition before Saturday's events

A truck on a narrow trail in snow, its front end in the bush.
A truck abandoned on a trail in Yellowknife on Saturday. (Carla Ulrich/CBC)

A man who fled from police, drove onto a walking trail, triggered a shelter-in-place advisory for the Chateau Nova hotel and subsequently broke into a home was on bail at the time and under house arrest, police say.

In a news release Tuesday, Yellowknife RCMP said the events happened Saturday when they tried to stop a vehicle in the city's downtown for a document check. The driver immediately fled in the vehicle.

Police didn't pursue because they felt there was a public safety risk, but the vehicle was then located in the parking lot of Chateau Nova, where the driver "began circling and ignoring police attempts to stop it once again," RCMP wrote.

"Given the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the situation, responding officers requested all hotel guests shelter inside the building until the incident concluded," the news release states.

An RCMP vehicle on a snowy street with lights flashing.
An RCMP vehicle in Yellowknife near the Chateau Nova hotel on Saturday. Police chased a man who fled a document check. (Sarah Krymalowski/CBC)

The driver then drove down a nearby walking trail, before exiting the vehicle and fleeing on foot.

He then broke into a nearby home. Police went after him and arrested him in the home.

RCMP say the people inside the home "took shelter from the suspect and were not injured."

Police have charged 40-year-old Daniel Lennie of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., with break and enter, driving while prohibited, fleeing from police, resisting a peace officer and failing to comply with conditions of release.

He remains in custody after appearing before a Justice of the Peace.