Police involved in car chase after alleged shoplifter pulls knife

Three people are facing several charges following an alleged shoplifting incident at a business in the Stonebridge Centre.

Officers were called to the shopping centre around 8 p.m. Saturday after a man allegedly tried to walk out of a store without paying for merchandise.

The suspected shoplifter reportedly pulled a knife on a security guard who tried to approach him, then took off in a waiting car. 

Police spotted the suspect vehicle shortly afterwards at the intersection of 11th Street  and Circle Drive. Officers tried to stop the car, but the woman behind the wheel kept driving into the Meadow Green neighbourhood.

At that point, police say two men jumped out of the car and ran off. Officers pursued on foot, eventually catching both men on the 300 block of Avenue Y South.

Meanwhile, police were forced to call off their pursuit of the woman driving the car out of concern for public safety. She was located several hours later and arrested.

In the wake of the chase, a 30-year-old man is facing charges of theft, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, obstruction and breach of probation.  A 36-year-old man who was a passenger in the vehicle was arrested on several outstanding warrants and also charged with obstruction. The 34-year-old woman who was allegedly driving the car is charged with evading police.

The three were brought before a Justice of the Peace over the weekend, the two men are being held in custody while the woman was released from custody ahead of trial — she’ll be back in court in early August.