OPP searching for suspect ‘not wearing any shoes’ who remains at large after crash in Ingersoll

The OPP were on scene of a car crash in Ingersoll, searching for a suspect at large on Sunday. CTV London's Brent Lale has the details.

It was a loud bang which could be heard across the town of Ingersoll, Ont. Sunday morning.

Resident Dylan Cronmiller quickly realized a vehicle had slammed into his neighbour’s van.

“We jumped up, we got our security cameras, actually caught some footage of somebody running away from the scene,” described Cronmiller.

That “somebody” was a woman who was fleeing the scene of the crash at the intersection of Charles Street West and Thames Street North.

“We live on a dead-end street, so I think she got to the end of the dead-end street and kind of had nowhere to go.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Police searching for man after car crashes into house in Ingersoll

Video showed OPP arriving seconds after the crash and residents pointing them in the direction of the woman.

She was apprehended, but the driver of the vehicle is still at large.

Just before 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, Oxford OPP responded to a call of a collision on Highway 401 near Foldens Line.

“One of the vehicles involved fled the scene and that vehicle was later located in the Town of Ingersoll after it collided with a residence in the area of Charles Street,” said Const. Ed Sanchuk in a statement posted to social media.

“I’m not aware of any injuries associated to either crash, however, an occupant from that involved vehicle fled from the area on foot and remains outstanding.”

The suspect is described as a Black man with a thin build, wearing a white T-shirt and dark jogging pants. They were not wearing any shoes.

Those white high-top shoes were in the backyard of neighbour Ben Cook, who was out walking his dog just a few metres away when the crash happened.

“He passed by me and if I left my house about two minutes earlier, he’d probably have struck me at the corner,” said Cook.

“The guy went running through my backyard, lost his shoes in the meantime. His girl or girlfriend went running down the other street, and she ended up getting caught across the tracks, but he’s still large.”

OPP spent about seven hours in the Ingersoll with a helicopter circling and using a drone. Officers from the Emergency Response Team were walking through the area with guns drawn.

Officers eventually bagged the shoes and other evidence in Cook’s backyard. They cleared just after 3 p.m. and posted on social media “the investigation remains ongoing.”

Neighbours describe it as a “crazy morning.”

“It will probably be the talk of the month,” said Cook.