Two people, including one man already facing a long list of criminal charges, have been arrested in connection with a wild chase through St. John’s and Mount Pearl in a stolen vehicle yesterday.
RNC says officers first attempted to pull the stolen Kia Soul over on Empire Avenue West, but instead of stopping, the vehicle sped away and the chase was called off for safety reasons.
A spike belt was deployed by officers at Commonwealth and Topsail Road, but even that failed to stop the errant driver, who continued to drive erratically through Mount Pearl and Paradise.
At one point the SUV was driving in the wrong direction on the Trans Canada near Donovan’s Industrial Park, narrowly avoiding collision with a number of oncoming vehicles.
Officers were able to safely contain the vehicle on Kenmount Road, finally bringing it to a stop.
The driver and a male passenger tried to run away from the scene, but were quickly apprehended. A 40-year-old woman in the vehicle was charged on an outstanding warrant and taken into custody.
The 44-year-old driver, Darrell Phelan was held to appear in court on a long list of charges related to the theft of the vehicle and dangerous and impaired driving.
The charges against Phelan include;
- Possession of stolen property
- Dangerous driving
- Flight from police
- Resisting arrest
- Forcible confinement
- Impaired driving
- Refusing to provide a sample
- Driving while prohibited
- Breach of a release order
- Breach of a probation order
Phelan appeared in court this morning, and is being held pending a bail hearing tomorrow.
He was already facing almost 20 charges including theft, damage to property and breaching court orders. He’s due back on those charges on January 13th.
