Police are commending an area resident whose help led to the arrest of three suspects following a collision in Harwich Township.
The Chatham-Kent Police Service said officers responded to the intersection of Middle Line and Charing Cross Road at around 6 a.m. on Sunday after a truck collided with a light pole.
A resident in the area reported to officers that the two people in the truck moved their property from their vehicle to a black minivan before fleeing the scene. The local resident followed the minivan and maintained communication with emergency services, providing detailed information.
Officers arrived at the scene of the crash and located the driver, who appeared to be intoxicated. The 35-year-old Chatham man was arrested and taken to police headquarters for breath tests. He is now charged with impaired driving and driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.
Not long after at around 6:30 a.m., officers were able to locate and stop the black minivan at Eighth Line and Dillon Road. During a search of the vehicle, officers located a loaded Glock handgun with the serial number filed off, which was within reach of both the driver and the passenger. Officers also learned the passenger was wanted on a Canadian Immigration Warrant.
As a result, a 34-year-old Wallaceburg woman and a 38-year-old man from Harwich Township have been charged with possession of a loaded prohibited firearm, possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, tampering with a serial number of a firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, being an occupant of a vehicle knowing there was a firearm, and possession of a concealed firearm.
The Wallaceburg woman was also charged with impaired driving and driving with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.
