The Langley crash that sent three people – including two police officers – to hospital Thursday afternoon was part of an investigation into a robbery that occurred in South Surrey the day before, according to police.
The Surrey Police Service said in a statement Friday that officers from the RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit were called to a “large retail store” in the 2500 block of 160 Street around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday.
There are several large retail stores in that area, including a Home Depot. Police did not specify which store had been robbed, but they did say a man and a woman exited the store “with a shopping cart full of tools that had not been paid for.”
“When confronted by a staff member, the male suspect produced a handgun, and the pair fled in a blue Toyota Matrix,” the SPS said in its release.
Police said the investigation continued on Thursday, when the suspect vehicle was spotted in Langley.
“Various resources,” including Mounties from Surrey and Langley, the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C., Integrated Police Dog Services and a helicopter were mobilized, police said.
Police attempted to stop the suspect vehicle, but were unsuccessful. It was eventually involved in a collision with police vehicles at the intersection of 200 Street and 36 Avenue.
“A secondary collision occurred at the scene between an unrelated civilian vehicle and a police vehicle,” police said. “The driver of the civilian vehicle suffered minor injuries and is under investigation for impaired driving.”
Two police officers were taken to hospital after the crash, as was one suspect, who received treatment for “injuries unrelated to the crash,” police said, adding that four people were arrested at the scene.
Police did not name any of the suspects, and charges have not yet been laid. The investigations into both the robbery and the collisions is ongoing, police said.
