Police in western Alberta were led on a pursuit by a suspect, in handcuffs, behind the wheel of a stolen Alberta Sheriffs patrol vehicle late Tuesday night.

It all started just after 10 p.m. just outside Whitecourt, about 160 km northwest of Edmonton.

RCMP said they were notified that during a traffic stop in which Alberta Sheriffs tried to arrest a suspect, he instead managed to get inside the sheriff’s patrol vehicle and steal it — while already handcuffed.

From there, the vehicle was driven about 100 km southeast, where it was then officers with help from the RCMP’s real times operation centre tracked it down near Gunn on Highway 43.

Police began a pursuit and laid out a spike belt, which the stolen cruiser went over before continuing to fee on flat tires.

When the damaged Sheriff vehicle attempted to drive into Spruce Grove, RCMP said a Mountie forcefully pushed it into the ditch with their own cruiser.

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But that didn’t stop it, either.

The cruiser successfully drove out of the ditch and went into oncoming traffic. Another RCMP cruiser rammed the vehicle and finally disabled it.

It’s not known if the suspect was handcuffed in front or behind his back, but police said his hands were at the front of his body and still in the cuffs when he was arrested.

A 42-year-old man from Spruce Grove was taken to hospital to be treated for injuries.

He has yet to appear before a Justice of the Peace for his charges to be sworn, but RCMP said the accused has been charged with:

• Flight from police
• Escape lawful custody
• Theft of a motor vehicle
• Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
• Assaulting a peace officer with a weapon
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle
• Possession of a prohibited/ restricted firearm
• Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
• Mischief over $5,000
• Five counts of failing to comply with release orders

RCMP said the name of the accused can be released once the information is sworn.

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In early February, a joint operation by Alberta Sheriffs, Calgary Police Service and the provincial government conducted more thorough inspections of commercial vehicles at the Airdrie, Alta., vehicle inspection station north of Calgary.

Insp. BJ Bjornson with Alberta Sheriffs says plenty of vehicles were dealt with.

“We had 20 of the 23 vehicles not pass the actual inspection qualification process,” explained Bjornson. “Five of which were able to (be) fixed locally on site, whereas the other 15 weren’t able to be fixed locally and had to remain on site, and placed permanently out of service until that could be removed in a safer manner.”

Alberta Sheriffs operate more than 40 vehicle inspection stations and mobile inspection stations across the province. On any given day, officers perform upwards of 40 commercial inspections each day for a total of more than 15,000 taking place in 2025, resulting in more than 4,000 vehicles being removed from Alberta roadways.

“We actually have two levels of inspections we’re looking for. Our level two inspection would qualify as similar to what a driver would do for their inspection,” Bjornson noted.

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“On that specific day we conducted a level one inspection where we do that preliminary inspection on the outside of the vehicle, but then we get underneath the vehicle and we start looking at the components.”

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When issues are found, Alberta Sheriffs primarily focus on education, but can escalate if necessary.

“Depending on what the infraction is, or the deviation or defect that we find, it could be anything from a fine that is nominal in nature, or it could be anything up to a long duration to have that vehicle seized,” said Bjornson.

“That impacts the drivers, that impacts the carriers, which is why we focus more on the collaborative approach with our industry partners.”

At Heavy Wrenching Diesel, co-owner Joseph Saoud tells Global News choosing not to stay on top of servicing their equipment can result in serious repercussions.

“When the truck is not operating, they’re losing money. The guys who are set up for success are doing preventative maintenance rather than waiting for it to blow,” Saoud remarked.

“These are killing machines if they’re not being paid attention to.”

And it’s not just the drivers or carriers that can face consequences.

“If there’s any proof that a shop has recently looked at it, and allowed it to leave, or worse yet passed the safety inspection with that damage? They will come here and fine us, remove licensing,” said Saoud.

“So there are consequences to bending the rules.”

Saoud says he’s heard of potential bad actors within the industry, but says the province is good at nipping problems in the bud before the grow into an issue.

“I don’t know how they get away with it, but they do,” notes Saoud. “But they don’t last long, it’s just dangerous while they’re in operation, and DOT (Department of Transportation) does a pretty good job of finding them and catching them.”

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.