A Whitehorse man is in custody after a traffic incident involving a stolen vehicle on February 7, 2022. Police believe that this vehicle was involved in an assault that took place on February 4, 2022.
At approximately 5:55 pm, police in a marked police vehicle initiated a traffic stop on Range Road near Two Mile Hill, Whitehorse, YT, with a vehicle that had been reported stolen. In attempting to evade the traffic stop, the driver of the suspect vehicle, later identified as Dustin Dolan, caused collisions with two other vehicles on the road, including a second police vehicle attending the area to assist.
After the vehicle crossed a sidewalk and got stuck in a snowbank, the driver fled on foot in the Takhini neighbourhood. He was located by police while allegedly trying to climb onto a porch roof, apparently to hide from police.
Police have reason to believe that this vehicle was also involved in the violent incident that took place in Whitehorse on February 4, 2022. (Previous news release about this assault available here.) As part of these investigations, police have executed multiple search warrants and seized one handgun.
There were no injuries caused by the traffic collisions or stemming from the foot pursuit by police. Police appreciated cooperation from drivers in the area as there were some traffic delays in the Takhini area during the investigation.
Dustin Dolan, age 36 of Whitehorse, had a first court appearance on February 8, 2022, and was held pending further court appearances. He is facing the following nine charges related to this traffic incident:
- Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle (Section 320.13(1) Criminal Code)
- Flight from police (Section 320.17 Criminal Code)
- Operate a motor vehicle while prohibited (Section 320.18(1)(a) Criminal Code)
- Possession of property obtained by crime (Section 354(1)(a) Criminal Code)
- Fail to comply with release order (Section 145(5)(a) Criminal Code)
- Resist police in the execution of their duties (Section 129(1) Criminal Code)
- Fail to comply with probation order (Section 733.1(1) Criminal Code)
- Two counts, fail to stop and remain at a collision (Section 320.16(1) Criminal Code)
These charges for Mr. Dolan are in addition to the multiple charges for three other men who were arrested on February 4.
"These violent and dangerous situations have impact upon our community and we continue to focus on public safety in our service. The link to the drug trade in these types of incidents is unfortunately apparent through our response and our investigations. We continue to address the drug and organized crime issues through proactive police work, including traffic stops and other methods. As we strive towards supporting a healthy and safer Whitehorse as one of our Detachment's performance priorities, our employees continue to contribute daily to ensure public safety and effective policing," says Inspector Lindsay Ellis, Officer in Charge of the Whitehorse RCMP Detachment.
Anyone with dashcam or surveillance footage of this incident is encouraged to reach out to Whitehorse RCMP or Crimestoppers.