Charlottetown man arrested after leading police on amphibious pursuit

A 20-year-old Charlottetown man has been arrested after he fled the scene of a collision on foot, leading the police on a chase, which at some point involved a kayak-assisted water rescue, according to a news release.

The Queens District RCMP said that it responded to a report of a single vehicle collision on York Point Road in Cornwall last Sunday. A pickup truck had collided with a nearby shed after failing to negotiate a turn, police said.

The driver and sole occupant of the truck left the scene on foot before the RCMP arrived. Police began to search for him in the nearby woods, where they'd heard some footsteps. He was later spotted.

"We identified ourselves, yelled out to him, asked him to stop. But he kept running and there was a foot pursuit that resulted as of that," Sgt. Craig Eveleigh of Queens District RCMP said.

The driver fled through the woods, down an embankment into the West River, where he began to swim away from the shore.

Police borrowed a kayak from a nearby property owner and followed him down the river.

"He actually entered the water, kept swimming,"  Eveleigh said. "Fearing for his safety, we had to make attempts to try to get him back to shore. So one of our officers knocked on the neighbours' door, borrowed a kayak belonging to the neighbour, got in the kayak and started going after the person that was in the water."

They caught up with him an hour later, and a kilometre away from shore. The man was pulled from the water and onto a North River fire department boat, which had been called to the scene.

Police later confirmed the man was over the legal limit. He's currently facing an impaired driving charge, but other charges are possible, including resisting arrest.

He's been released pending a court appearance scheduled for Sept. 27.

The RCMP said they'd like to thank the fire department as well as the kayak owner for their assistance.

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