A Vancouver Island man wanted in both Victoria and the West Shore was arrested early Wednesday morning.
According to police, 25-year-old Devan Lambert, is a suspected "chronic offender" who was wanted for a range of significant offences all across the island.
The suspect's crimes began on Aug. 16, when a man was seen dangerously driving through a red light into oncoming traffic to avoid police. It was later discovered that the vehicle he was driving was allegedly stolen from View Royal.
"In August, West Shore RCMP officers spotted Lambert and knew he was wanted for the outstanding warrant listed above," said Const. Nancy Saggar in a news release on Monday.
"When officers attempted to stop Lambert he fled from police driving dangerously through a red light and into oncoming traffic. During the flight from police, Lambert is alleged to have been driving a vehicle that was stolen from View Royal."
At approximately 5:50 a.m. Wednesday, West Shore RCMP received reports of two suspicious people in the Duke Road and Chapel Heights area of Metchosin.
Officers headed to the area and spotted the suspect along the 4100-block of Metchosin Rd. The responding officers recognized the man from his outstanding warrants and then moved to arrest him.
The suspect was then taken into police custody, where he remains Monday.
Lambert faces a range of charges, including possession of stolen property, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a prohibited weapon, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, fleeing from police, driving while prohibited, driving while suspended, and failure to comply with a court order.
Most of the charges come from a recent flight from police in August, though RCMP say they have also connected Lambert to another stolen vehicle that was taken out of Comox in May.
"This is a job well done by our frontline officers who are patrolling the West Shore," said Staff-Sgt. Raj Sandhu.
"Our officers are routinely briefed on crime trends and chronic offenders who may be in the area. We can attribute the capture of Devan Lambert to the keen eye of the officer who, along with other officers on the road, were able to safely bring Lambert into custody."
