A rampaging SUV driver threatened an RCMP officer during an incident at a Makwa gas station Saturday, Jan. 18.
According to Loon Lake RCMP, a lone officer responded to a report of a suspicious man driving a grey SUV in a farmyard in the Pierceland detachment area.
An officer from the Loon Lake Detachment located a vehicle that matched the description of the SUV on Highway 26, north of Loon Lake. The officer attempted to stop the SUV, but it accelerated away in response. The vehicle and the man were seen at a gas station in Makwa a short while later. The officer pulled in behind and arrested the male driver from the SUV.
Police say that while the officer was escorting the handcuffed man to the police truck, a female passenger struck the officer from behind. The officer took the man to the ground to keep control of him. Meanwhile, the woman ran back to the SUV and armed herself with a machete.
Police say she entered the driver’s side of the vehicle and accelerated at the officer who was still on the ground. The officer was able to move himself and the man to safety. The woman then tried to turn around and accelerate at the officer again before losing control and colliding with the side of the gas station, causing significant damage.
RCMP report the officer was able to arrest both individuals without injury. The officer was uninjured.
Officers from the Prince Albert Crime Reduction Team, nearby detachments and EMS were called in to assist.
A subsequent search of the SUV resulted in the seizure of bolt cutters, multiple knives, a machete, six rifles, three semi-automatic handguns with five loaded magazines, bags of ammunition, a revolver, a black ski mask and leather gloves.
The man and woman have been identified as Stephane Joseph Leclerc , 50, and Jolene Nicole Sinclair, 35. Both have been charged with multiple offenses and were remanded to appear in court in Meadow Lake Monday, Jan. 20.
