The search continues for a suspect involved in a brazen daylight carjacking and multiple motor vehicle accidents last week in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam.
The man, who police described as a darker-skinned male with neck tattoos and a short haircut, was last seen by witnesses fleeing a car he had crashed along Kingsway Avenue in PoCo.
RCMP Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said investigators have an idea of who the suspect might be.
“The risk of the initial incident is over but police investigators are working hard to get our primary suspect in custody,” he said Monday. “We have police officers in on overtime to make sure this file gets the attention it deserves.”
The incident began at 10 a.m. last Thursday when police received a call about an impaired driver in a parking lot in the 3000-block of Lougheed Highway. When officers arrived, the man sped off in a blue pickup truck, hitting a vehicle on the way out of the area. Due to safety concerns, officers made a decision not to pursue the suspect.
But moments later, the truck smashed into a Bel-Air taxi cab at the railway crossing at Kingsway Avenue and Westwood Street. With the suspect’s vehicle disabled, he carjacked a second vehicle, which he drove down Kingsway before crashing it and running away near the Coquitlam River.
Nobody was seriously hurt during the incident but the woman whose vehicle was stolen was shaken up, according to McLaughlin.
Investigators spent hours at the scene gathering evidence and canvassing the area for information.
“A large amount of witness, forensic and video evidence needs to be properly organized and presented to Crown counsel,” McLaughlin said. “We will let the public know as soon as possible if and when an arrest is made.”
@gmckennaTC
