Winnipeg police use helicopter, GPS technology to catch would-be car thieves
CBC News | Posted: August 4, 2018 8:34 PM | Last Updated: August 4, 2018
Cars found in both incidents
A pair of high-tech tools helped Winnipeg police to track down two would-be car thieves earlier this week.
Shortly after midnight on Thursday morning, the police helicopter, AIR1, was assigned to track a suspect in a stolen car. Officers on the ground tried to stop the vehicle at the intersection of Dufferin Avenue and McGregor Street, but the car fled at a high rate of speed.
Officers on the ground backed off as AIR1 continued to pursue. The suspect then crashed the vehicle through a guardrail at Hallet Street and Rover Avenue, stopping on an embankment.
The Winnipeg Police Service tweeted a video of the chase caught by AIR1.
The male suspect then took off on foot, and tried to hide in some bushes nearby. He was arrested shortly after.
The vehicle is believed to have been taken from a residence in West St. Paul on July 31.
In separate incident Friday, police arrested a female suspect after using GPS to find the vehicle she allegedly stole from a residence in the Lakewood area two days earlier.
Using GPS technology, the owner of the stolen vehicle was able to relay its location to police as the suspect drove it through Winnipeg.
It was eventually located on Chalice Place, unoccupied, in the Lindenwoods area. Officers located and arrested the suspect nearby.