Carjacking suspect leads police on multi-county chase ending in arrest near Auburn

One person is in custody following a carjacking and police chase through Huron and Perth Counties. CTV’s Scott Miller reports.

A damaged OPP police cruiser and suspected stolen vehicle sit atop the crest of a hill on Base Line, south of Auburn, Wednesday afternoon.

“It looks like the two vehicles made contact at some point. Thankfully, our officer [is] not injured. And I understand that the individual that was driving, the suspect, is being checked out at local hospital,” said Huron County OPP Const. Craig Soldan.

How the cruiser and red sedan ended up here started earlier in the day in Lambton County.

Police say a man suspected of “uttering threats” entered Huron County on Highway 21 Wednesday morning. As police headed that way, they found the suspect’s abandoned minivan and a red sedan speeding from the area.

They learned the suspect had allegedly walked into a resident’s home near Bayfield, and demanded keys to their vehicle, which the homeowner gave to them.

“At that point, police activated more emergency responders to the area, including OPP Aviation. The OPP helicopter started to head our way to assist us in the air. More officers were engaged, and we followed the vehicle safely from a distance through Bayfield, Clinton, Seaforth, and it actually went into Perth County briefly before turning around and coming back into Huron. Officers continued to try to stop the vehicle with spike strips. The suspect avoided those, and we eventually are able to stop it here on Base Line, just behind me,” explained Soldan from the scene in between Clinton and Auburn.

The male suspect, hailing from Essex County, was taken into custody at the scene. Soldan says multiple charges are pending, across many jurisdictions.

“I understand that the Sarnia Police Service are involved, as well as Chatham-Kent Police Service, and now the Huron County OPP will have a long list of charges that will be laid against this individual. So collectively, I’m quite certain they’ll be held in custody. And, those charges will be organized and formally laid at some point,” said Soldan.

Soldan says it was a nerve-wracking situation for OPP knowing the suspect was travelling across Huron and Perth County, but not as nerve-wracking when compared to the Bayfield area resident who encountered the suspect earlier in the day.

“It would be obviously frightening for the person that was at home and had their home entered by the suspect, demanding the keys to their vehicle. I mean, they obviously did the right thing and gave the keys up and let them go, but, yeah, that’s a terrifying incident for them to experience, and we’re thankful that it wasn’t worse than that,” said Soldan.

A section of Base Line, between Hullett-McKillop Road and Londesborough Road, remains closed for the police investigation.