Armed robbery, high speed chase, car crash, foot chase, and finally arrests Sunday

By Trail Champion

The robbery of a pizza delivery guy at gunpoint in Grand Forks Sunday led to high-speed getaway, car crash, foot chase and police service dog capture, with two suspects in custody, according to Trail top cop Sgt. Darren Oelke.

"On Sept. 6, at 8:17 p.m., the Boundary RCMP (Grand Forks) received a call that a pizza delivery person was approached by two males with a gun and robbed of his vehicle and cash," Oelke said in a press release issued Tuesday afternoon. "The victim of the robbery was not injured.

Oelke said that, at 8:45 p.m., a member of the Trail CMP detachment spotted the vehicle (a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire) on Hwy 3B heading toward Rossland.

"When the police attempted to stop the vehicle, it fled at a high rate of speed, lost control on a corner and struck a rock wall," he said. "The stolen vehicle was demolished in the accident.

"One male was arrested at the scene of the accident, and the second male was arrested after a brief track by a police dog. Neither suspect were severely injured. A loaded firearm was recovered from the vehicle."

Rylee Andrew Shipley, 18, of Nova Scotia and Collton Emery Knowles, 18, of Alberta have been charged with robbery with a firearm, possession of stolen property, possession of a prohibited firearm, flight from police and other firearms related charges. Both appeared in Rossland Provincial Court today (Tuesday).

Oelke said a possible connection to a similar robbery in the BC interior is also being investigated.