RCMP vehicle, Wikimedia Commons, CC License
Man wanted on warrant arrested after foot chase in downtown Fort McMurray
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — A 34-year-old man wanted on a provincial warrant is facing several firearms charges after he was arrested in downtown Fort McMurray following a brief foot chase.
Wood Buffalo RCMP and members of their Crime Reduction Unit were on patrol around 11:15 a.m. on May 28 when they spotted a man riding a bicycle and carrying a backpack near Gordon White Avenue. Officers recognized him as a person wanted for uttering threats and assault, and they also believed he had committed firearms-related offences earlier in May in Chipewyan Prairie First Nation near Janvier
Police say the man fled when officers tried to arrest him. Police pursued him on foot to McLeod Street, where General Duty officers and Police Dog Services responded to assist.
The chase continued onto McIver Street, where a police dog successfully apprehended the suspect. He was taken to Northern Lights Regional Health Centre with minor injuries and later released into police custody.
RCMP say a loaded firearm was found in the backpack the man had been carrying at the time of the arrest.
“This serves to highlight the dangerous work that our police officers face every day protecting the community,” said Inspector Troy Switzer, operations officer for the Wood Buffalo detachment.
Leighton Haineault, who police has no fixed address, and is facing multiple charges including two counts of unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon, three counts of weapons possession contrary to order, two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, careless use of a firearm, two counts of resisting arrest, failing to comply with a condition of an undertaking and theft under $5,000.
He was remanded into custody following a judicial release hearing and is scheduled to appear in the Alberta Court of Justice in Fort McMurray on June 2.
Police say the investigation is ongoing with assistance from RCMP forensic services.
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