Halifax District RCMP and Halifax Regional Police have charged a man involved in a pursuit in both Dartmouth and Lower Sackville on August 3.
At approximately 6:35 p.m. Halifax Regional Police officers attempted to stop a white Volkswagen Tiguan in the area of Nantucket Avenue in Dartmouth. The vehicle did not stop and continued along Nantucket Avenue to Victoria Road. The vehicle struck another vehicle after proceeding through a red light at the intersection of Victoria Road and Thistle Street. The vehicle did not stop at the scene of the collision and fled the area. The officers stopped the pursuit to provide assistance to the occupants of the struck vehicle who were not injured.
At approximately 8 p.m., Halifax District RCMP located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop. The driver failed to stop and took off at a high rate of speed.
RCMP pursued the vehicle into the Churchill Downs area of Lower Sackville where two police cars and private property were damaged by the vehicle being pursued. The vehicle fled the area and continued onto Hwy. 101 towards Windsor. Police ended the pursuit a short time later.
During the pursuit, the driver of the vehicle had thrown items out of his vehicle onto Hwy. 101. After the pursuit had ended, police located the items which were determined to be suspected cocaine, drug paraphernalia and pills.
On August 5, West Hants District RCMP recovered the white Volkswagen Tiguan in the Gypsum Mines area of the Municipality of West Hants. The vehicle was towed to RCMP Headquarters in Dartmouth and a search warrant was obtained for it. The search warrant was executed by Halifax District RCMP with assistance from RCMP Forensic Identification Services. Suspected cocaine and a number of pills were seized during the search of the vehicle.
On August 6, Halifax District RCMP obtained an arrest warrant for the driver of the vehicle, Jason Patrick MacKenzie, 35, of Halifax, and charged him with the following offences:
· Assaulting a Peace Officer with a Weapon – S.270.01(a) CC x2;
· Flight from Police – S.320.17 CC;
· Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance – S.320.13(1) CC;
· Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking – S.5(2) CDSA
On August 9, MacKenzie turned himself in to Halifax Regional Police. MacKenzie was held in custody overnight and appeared in Dartmouth Provincial Court on August 10 where he was charged with additional offences as follows:
· Flight from Police – S.320.17 CC;
· Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance – S.320.13(1) CC;
· Failure to Stop After an Accident – S.320.16(1) CC;
· Failure to Comply with Condition – S.145(5)(a) CC x3
MacKenzie was remanded into custody and will next appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court on August 17 at 9:30 a.m.
