In the early hours of October 7th, 2023, the Yellowknife RCMP received a complaint regarding a security guard being hit while trying to prevent an impaired driver from leaving a location on Franklin Avenue.
According to the RCMP, a second call from another person was received reporting a vehicle fitting the same description speeding in the wrong lane of traffic in the downtown area.
Officers located the vehicle and activated emergency equipment to deploy a traffic stop. The vehicle accelerated and collided head-on with another police vehicle arriving in the area to assist the stop.
Police say the impact was significant enough that the RCMP vehicle’s airbags deployed and the vehicle was “seriously damaged.”
“The police vehicle that was arriving in the area was not attempting to block the fleeing vehicle,” the RCMP says.
Additionally, the RCMP says the collision is being investigated as an intentional act on the part of the driver.
The 20-year-old driver of the vehicle was promptly arrested and faces numerous charges including, impaired operation causing bodily harm, impaired operation over the legal limit causing bodily harm, assault on a police officer with a weapon, assault with a weapon, flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, and mischief over $5,000.
The RCMP says the driver was not injured in the incident and was cleared medically on scene. Both the security guard and the RCMP officer were transported to and treated at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and released after treatment. The investigation into the collision and the circumstances surrounding the incident is on-going.
