Quebec provincial police (SQ) say a man led officers on a wild police chase spanning about 70 kilometres that started with a stolen salt truck and ended with the suspect climbing a tree to evade arrest.
The incident started at around 7:45 a.m. Friday when a 53-year-old man from Saint-Paul, in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, left his home “intoxicated and in crisis,” the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said in a news release.
Officers with the MRC Joliette were called to arrest him after the salt truck was stolen on Lagarde Street. The SQ alleged the man was armed with a knife.
He then abandoned the truck about 24 kilometres west, in the town of Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan. There, he fled on foot and stole a large SUV, continuing on his way and prompting a chase by provincial and local police officers.
The pursuit ended about 40 kilometres southwest, in the City of Laval, …