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Mounties get their man

Man arrested following high-speed pursuit through northern Saskatchewan

Feb 1, 2019 | 1:33 PM

RCMP members from several area detachments worked together Wednesday night to arrest a man who led police on a high-speed pursuit through northern Saskatchewan.

RCMP officers from Waskesiu, La Ronge, Pinehouse Lake and Beauval detachments were called in to assist after the driver of the vehicle refused to stop. Waskesiu RCMP first attempted to stop the vehicle on Highway 2 North, about 25 kilometres north of the Waskesiu Lake turnoff, around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday.

La Ronge RCMP set up a road block at Rabbit Creek, with RCMP following from a distance for about 66 kilometres. However, RCMP say the driver turned left onto Highway 165, avoiding the road block. Pinehouse and Beauval police were then called in to assist, setting up a road block a few kilometres east of the Highway 914 junction.

With the driver still refusing to stop, a spike belt was then set up, causing all four tires to deflate. Police say Roderick Gardiner was then arrested without incident and two one-ounce bags of cocaine were seized from inside the vehicle.

Gardiner, 37, is charged with possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking, operation of a motor vehicle while being pursued by police, and driving while disqualified. He made his first appearance in court on the charges earlier this week and was scheduled to appear in court again Friday morning in La Ronge.

At the time of his arrest, RCMP say Gardiner was on a court-ordered conditional sentence order stemming from a conviction last August for trafficking cocaine and several breaches of court conditions.

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

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