Six marked police cruisers, a speed watch van and an anti-graffiti van were the only casualties of an incident that began with the theft of a Jeep Cherokee in Surrey on Saturday and ended with the brief closure of Burnaby Hospital’s acute care area on Sunday morning.
According to a media release, Mounties were called to Burnaby’s community police office at Lougheed Town Centre around 1 a.m. on Dec. 8 after a neighbour noticed a man trying to break into a rental truck parked in the mall lot.
On their way to the scene, officers were informed the suspect had crashed a dark coloured Jeep Cherokee into an unoccupied RCMP cruiser parked outside the police office. By the time officers arrived, the suspect had managed to break into the five-ton rental truck and had crashed into several parked police cruisers, stated the release.
According to police, the suspect damaged a total of six police cars, a City of Burnaby speed watch van and the Jeep Cherokee he had been driving, before crashing into a “large” electric pole.
The 38-year-old Surrey man then exited the truck and attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended a “short distance” from the mall and arrested without incident.
While the cost of damages to the police cruisers hasn’t been determined, Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis said a brand new and fully equipped cruiser costs about $45,000. The detachment’s transportation manager is expected to bring someone in to assess the damage and see if any of the cruisers can be salvaged, Buis added.
But that is not where the story ends.
The suspect was taken to Burnaby Hospital for a psychiatric and medical examination where he jumped up from his bed and ripped out a sprinkler head. Water poured from the surrounding sprinklers in the acute care area of the emergency room, affecting 18 beds and causing “significant water damage,” according to a media release from Fraser Health.
Burnaby’s emergency room was only closed for a short while as crews cleaned up the water, which reached a peak of four inches. B.C. Ambulance Service redirected patients until nine of the 18 beds were reopened. No staff or patients were injured.
The suspect was taken into custody at the Burnaby RCMP detachment, where he remains.
Charges have been laid against 38-year-old Joseph Field of Surrey. According to Burnaby RCMP, Field faces two counts of possession of stolen property and one count of mischief for damaging the police vehicles.
The suspect could also be facing charges depending on the results of an investigation into an incident in Surrey on Saturday.
According to police, a man allegedly ripped out a sprinkler head at the Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre after he became agitated while at the facility. The suspect then fled the facility in a Jeep Cherokee.
While police are still investigating the Surrey incident, the RCMP believes the two are likely connected.
