The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says a senior and two police officers are injured after a driver allegedly rammed several vehicles and drove along a sidewalk in the city’s West End neighbourhood Friday morning.
The senior is in hospital in critical condition, and the two officers have also been taken to hospital, according to a VPD news release.
Police say they received a report around 5:30 a.m. PT of a driver acting erratically around Comox and Broughton streets and the Nelson Park dog area.
“Several witnesses nearby had to scramble to get out of the way of the suspect’s vehicle,” VPD said in its release.
The vehicle ran into numerous objects, police say, and struck a senior riding a motorized scooter.
The driver was stopped, according to police, “after he rammed a police vehicle responding to the scene, destroying the cruiser and flipping the suspect’s vehicle.”
The man was trapped in the vehicle but was freed by Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, according to the VPD. He was arrested near Comox and Bute streets. Multiple ambulances also responded.
“Mental health and drug use issues are possible factors in this incident,” VPD said in its release.
Comox Street between Thurlow and Bute was closed to the public as of 9:45 a.m. PT.
