Proactive patrols and a keen eye help police make arrest

File 20-560

If something is a bit off with your vehicle, and you’re worried about being pulled over, than you might want to avoid driving through Delta.

The Delta Police Patrol Support Team (PST) was created to bolster the work of the front line, doing everything from short term projects to proactive work. Recently, on January 7, 2020, officers with the PST were in unmarked police cars doing additional patrols, when they spotted a suspicious vehicle – a Subaru with no front plate.

That caught an officer’s eyes, who made note of the rear plate. As it turned out, police in another jurisdiction had tried unsuccessfully to pull the car over that same night. The vehicle was parked illegally and running in the lot of a gas station in North Delta.

Police officers ensured other officers were nearby to assist, then activated their vehicle’s emergency equipment and approached the driver in the Subaru. However, the Subaru driver attempted to flee the gas station, allegedly ramming two occupied police vehicles in the process.

“Fortunately neither the suspect nor our police officers were injured during this incident, though our vehicles are estimated to have sustained approximately $9,000 in damage,” says Cris Leykauf, spokesperson for Delta Police. “Shortly thereafter police were able to take the driver of the Subaru into custody.”

In relation to this incident William Mark Spence, age 30, of no fixed address has been charged with:

• 2 counts of assault a peace officer and carry, use or threaten to use a weapon s. 270.01 (1)(a
• 1 count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle s. 320.13 (1)
• 1 count of failing to stop while being pursued by a peace officer s. 320.17

SPENCE has been remanded into police custody, and will next appear in court on January 22, 2019.