PEI

4 police forces in action after man flees Summerside officers

Four Island police forces were alerted and on the lookout before a 30-year-old man from the Summerside area was arrested Thursday afternoon. 

Summerside-area man eventually arrested in the Kensington region

Police officers prepared to search for a suspect using a drone Thursday afternoon at the Charlottetown Mall. (Brittany Spencer/CBC)

Four Island police forces were alerted and on the lookout before a 30-year-old man from the Summerside area was arrested Thursday afternoon.

A news release from the Summerside police says it all started around 7:45 a.m. when a car was stopped near an apartment building on Granville Street. 

The female driver was thought to be wanted by police. While she was being taken into custody, the release said, a man moved from the backseat into the driver's seat and drove off. 

Police didn't chase "due to public safety concerns," the statement said. 

The same vehicle showed up in Kensington a short while later, but failed to stop for officers there. 

RCMP were then alerted to "the same vehicle being driven erratically in the Spring Valley area."

Suspect thought to have been seeking firearm

By that time, officers had been told the suspect had recently tried to obtain a firearm, and the Charlottetown Police Service was also on the lookout. 

Several officers and police vehicles were at the Charlottetown Mall Thursday afternoon, and searched for the suspect using a drone. 

"At approximately 1:40 p.m., and as a result of the joint investigation, the suspect was located, back in the Kensington area, as a passenger in a different vehicle," the Summerside police news release said.

"He was taken into custody without incident and transported to hospital for examination."  

Charges are expected to include uttering threats, dangerous driving, flight from police and impaired driving by drug.

The man is scheduled to appear in court Friday. 

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