A West Shore Mountie was injured Saturday while responding to a report of an unconscious man in a stolen Mercedes, according to RCMP.
Police said they found the Black Mercedes Coupe on Six Mile Road near Atkins Avenue in View Royal at around 5:40 a.m. with the man asleep inside. The vehicle was reported stolen out of Duncan on July 18, 2019.
“Officers woke up the male suspect inside the stolen vehicle and attempted to arrest him. During the arrest the suspect began physically fighting officers and a loaded 9mm handgun fell out of the suspect’s waistband,” said West Shore RCMP spokeswoman Const. Nancy Saggar.
“Officers were able to arrest the male and seize the hand gun. No shots were fired by either the suspect or police in this instance, however one of our officers did sustain an injury to her hand.”
The suspect is 33-year-old James Wilkinson, police say. Wilkinson is still in custody and had been charged with six offences including several firearm-related crimes as well as possession of property obtained by crime.
“This was a dangerous situation that was contained by our responding officers. We want to commend the officers for their bravery which lead to the safe arrest of the suspect.” said Staff-Sgt. Raj Sandhu, Acting Officer in Charge of the West Shore RCMP.
