A St. Thomas man is facing several charges after a police cruiser was rammed by a stolen pickup truck.
St. Thomas police said at around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, an officer on patrol spotted a pickup going north on First Avenue at an unusually slow speed. The truck then quickly turned into a drive as the officer tried to pull it over. The officer parked the cruiser at the end of the driveway. As the officer tried to speak with the driver of the pickup, he put it in reverse and slammed into the cruiser in an attempt to escape the scene.
The driver then drove the truck over a lawn and back onto First Avenue, speeding away to the north.
Other officers arrived to help as the pickup went east onto Myrtle Street.
"When the suspect came upon a dead-end street he raced westbound on Locust Street, narrowly missing a head-on collision with a responding police cruiser," police said in a news release issued Tuesday afternoon. "The truck travelled up on a curb to avoid the collision and sped south on First Ave. Police successfully deployed a spike belt, causing two of the tires to deflate."
The driver ran away but was arrested by police a short distance away. Police discovered that the pickup had been reported stolen and that the suspect was a suspended driver.
A 23-year-old St. Thomas man is now charged with two counts of dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of an accident, flight from police, two counts of breaching an undertaking, prohibited driving, possession of stolen property, and driving while under suspension.
Police said there were no injuries.
