An Oshawa man is facing multiple charges after allegedly leading Durham Regional Police on a high-speed chase that lasted more than 154 kilometres.
The chase started out as a call about a domestic incident in the early hours of Jan. 27, Durham police said in a news release.
At around 2:30 a.m., police got a 911 call from a woman travelling in the area of Rossland Road West and Stevenson Road North in Oshawa. The woman told police she was being followed by a man she knew and that he was driving behind her erratically, trying to ram her car.
Police advised the woman to drive towards Central West Division in Whitby.
When the man was spotted by officers, he took off in the vehicle he was driving, believed to be a Chevrolet Camaro.
Officers backed off for safety reasons, but tracked the vehicle using the police helicopter Air1.
The vehicle eventually got onto Highway 401, where the chopper tracked it going at speeds as high as 230 kilometres per hour – more than twice the posted limit on the provincial highway.
The chopper tracked the vehicle for 154 kilometres – believed to be the longest helicopter pursuit in Ontario history – as it made its way toward Peterborough and then turned back toward Durham Region.
Police eventually laid spikes down on the road to blow out the tires on the suspect vehicle. When the Camero came to a stop, night vision cameras on the chopper captured the suspect as he fled into the woods to try and evade police.
At one point before officers on foot catch up with, the video shows the suspect throwing something away.
Officers eventually caught the man in the woods and arrested him.
Police allege the man was in possession of numerous drugs, including heroin, cocaine and MDMA.
He is now facing multiple drug-related charges, as well as one charge of racing a motor vehicle; dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving while under suspension.
The suspect’s name is being withheld due to the domestic nature of the incident, police said.
