An attempt at keeping a car warm in a Kelowna parking lot led to a hot pursuit by police in Merritt to kick off 2016.
On January 2, the owner of a motor vehicle left the car running and wound up reporting it stolen to Kelowna police at 9 p.m. that night.
Hours later, at about 2 a.m., the vehicle was spotted in the Nicola Valley by Merritt police as it made an illegal U-turn on Nicola Avenue.
The move caught police attention and the driver was pulled over on Highway 8 near Norgaard’s Ready Mix before the he proceeded to flee from police in the vehicle.
Mounties looked up vehicle’s license plate, which came back as the stolen vehicle from Kelowna.
The vehicle was followed to Lower Nicola where it made a turn and attempted to return to Merritt. A spike belt was successfully deployed by Merritt members at Shulus where the vehicle was subsequently stopped and driver arrested without incident.
Joshua Tyler Nixon, 20, from Kelowna has been charged with possession of stolen property and flight from a police officer.
Police ask people refrain from leaving their vehicles running while parked in cold weather, but if it is necessary, they should have a way of locking or disengaging the engine to prevent theft.
