POLICE – Owner takes wild ride on the back of his stolen pickup truck

Posted on October 16, 2019 in Page One, Police // 1 Comment

Burned-out truck in hay field. (Image: Mel Rothenburger)

A wild ride in a stolen pickup truck ended in a hay field south of Black Pines today (Oct. 16, 2019) with two occupants and an unwilling owner miraculously escaping serious injury.

The drama started at 12:45 p.m. as Kamloops RCMP received reports of a pick-up truck driving erratically, heading northbound on Westsyde Road. A man could be seen on the flatbed of the pickup truck as it was moving.

Through investigation it was found that the truck had been stolen in Kamloops on Oct. 11.

“It appears that a friend of the truck’s owner saw the stolen vehicle when he was driving on the Halston Connector,” said Cpl. Jody Shelkie.

She said the friend contacted the owner and followed the truck, updating the owner as to its location. The truck stopped in a residential area of Brocklehurst long enough for the owner to catch up. When the owner approached the vehicle, the suspects started to drive away so the owner jumped on the back of the flatbed pickup.

The vehicle was then reported to be driving down Parkcrest Avenue where it hit a power pole. It went down Singh Street, Ord Road and made its way onto Westsyde Road, with the owner still clinging onto the back.

Reports from witnesses said that truck was driving into oncoming traffic, going through red lights and, at times, exceeded 100 km/hr on Westsyde Road. It also hit three other moving vehicles.

“Luckily, there were no injuries to any of the occupants in these vehicles,” Shelkie said.

Police rushed along Westsyde Road and found that the pickup had left the road near Calrke Road and crashed through a fence before coming to a stop in a field and then starting on fire.

Both of the suspects inside of the vehicle and the owner on the back of the vehicle made it away safely. Officers attempted to put out the flames with fire extinguishers but the truck was engulfed.

A man and a woman who had been inside the truck were taken to Royal Inland Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Shelkie said it appears the owner on the back of the truck did not suffer any injuries

CFJC Today identified him as Francis Payette.