SEBA BEACH, Alta. — A man accused of ramming a police cruiser during a 100-kilometre chase appears to have marked a first for a central Alberta RCMP detachment by hiding in a tree to elude capture.
Mounties at Evansburg got a call last Thursday about a stolen vehicle in the summer village of Seba Beach, about 90 kilometres west of Edmonton.
The driver was spotted swerving from shoulder to shoulder when officers caught up to him, and he took off when they tried to pull him over.
Police say that after ramming one of their vehicles, the driver sped through several fields near the community of Niton Junction on the Yellowhead Highway, west of Seba Beach, and eventually stopped before fleeing on foot.
Officers aided by a police dog service team eventually found him hiding in a tree.
Daniel Patrick O'Donnell, of no fixed address, remains in custody on charges that include dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from police.
RCMP Sgt. Brian Topham with the Evansburg detachment says in his 33 years of policing, he's never seen a suspect take such an unusual escape route.
"I've seen them run until they can't run anymore, hide in all kinds of places in the ground, or cross rivers, but I've never seen anybody go up a tree."
