York Regional Police continue to search for a male suspect who rammed a cruiser outside the Beer Store at Yonge Street and Mulock Drive on Friday night, Nov. 29, before driving along the plaza sidewalk to escape.
Police responded to a call about a possible impaired driver in the plaza parking lot just before 6:30 p.m.
“Officers arrived at the scene and parked directly behind the vehicle to prevent it from leaving, but the vehicle reversed and hit the cruiser and then continued to drive up into the sidewalk of the plaza,” York police Const. Laura Nicolle said.
Thankfully, there were no injuries to pedestrians, she added.
The driver of the SUV left the plaza, heading east on Mulock, before abandoning the vehicle in a subdivision near Mulock and Bayview Avenue and fleeing on foot.
A video posted on Facebook by a bystander captured the dramatic getaway.
Police later discovered the vehicle had been reported stolen from Peel Region, Nicolle added.
York police searched for the suspect with the help of its canine unit and Air2 helicopter, however the suspect remains at large, Nicolle said.
Officers made the decision not to pursue the suspect as he took off out of the parking lot for public safety reasons.
“That’s the difficulty that we, as police, have to balance. If we chase a vehicle that is behaving erratically, we could potentially be causing some severe safety issues, so it’s certainly a scary situation,” Nicolle said.
“We had the helicopter up, and fortunately the person abandoned the vehicle very quickly,” she added.
The vehicle was towed and is being held by York police to be examined for evidence, Nicolle said.
“I would suspect we’d get something out of that,” she said.
The suspect is described as a white male, with dark hair and some facial hair, and was wearing a dark-coloured shirt.
Anyone with information is asked to call York Regional Police at 1-866-876-5423, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or leave an anonymous tip online.
