Police dog helps Mounties find auto-theft suspect

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This article was published 19/09/2017 (2407 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A stolen vehicle was located and a suspect arrested Friday night, thanks in part to a Portage la Prairie police dog.

An RCMP news release said Minnedosa RCMP received a report Friday at about 8 p.m. about a suspicious vehicle matching the description of one reported stolen and posted on social media.

At about 9:30 pm, an officer patrolling in the community of Minnedosa observed the vehicle stopped on the shoulder of the road with the motor running. As the officer turned around to approach the vehicle, it began to drive away. The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop but the vehicle sped from the scene. The officer did not initiate a pursuit but provided the vehicle’s last known location to other officers in the area, the RCMP press release said.

The vehicle was later spotted leaving Provincial Road 262 and into a swampy field where it came to a stop and the driver fled on foot. Officers from Minnedosa, Neepawa, Brandon and Westman Traffic Services attended to the location and secured the perimeter.

With the help of a police dog named Ozzy from Portage la Prairie, the suspected driver of the vehicle was located and arrested. Jayson Alexander Balodis, 42, of Riverton, was remanded into custody and appeared in Brandon Provincial Court on Monday facing charges of possession of property obtained by crime, flight from police, resisting arrest and mischief. Several charges were also issued under the Highway Traffic Act, RCMP said in the news release.