A 62-year-old man is facing a long list of charges after police officers were led on a lengthy car chase between Leamington and Kingsville.
The incident began Monday around 2:30 a.m., when an Ontario Provincial Police officer spotted a vehicle being driven in a suspicious manner near the intersection of Erie Street South and Coronation Avenue.
The officer activated the lights and siren in an effort to stop the vehicle, but the driver ignored the officer. The vehicle was seen being driven through stop signs and weaving from side to side, according to Constable Jim Root. The driver then tried to elude the officer by driving through a parking lot before reentering the road and continuing on in the area of Oak Street West.
As more officers were dispatched to help stop the driver, the vehicle headed toward Kingsville. An attempt to stop the driver at Union Avenue and Road 3 was unsuccessful. Root said the vehicle was driven into the oncoming traffic lane and eventually left the roadway where the driver lost control before crashing into an OPP cruiser.
Officers then set up a spike belt on Graham Side Road and Road 2 East, which punctured the vehicle's tires and slowed it down. The driver was finally stopped a short time later.
Bradley Hamelin, 62, of Kingsville is charged with numerous violations of the Ontario Highway Traffic Act, including flight from police and dangerous operation of a vehicle. He will have a chance to defend himself against the charges in a Leamington courtroom on August 20.
No one was injured in the incident.
