A young robbery suspect ended up being rescued by the police he was attempting to escape Thursday in North Vancouver after leading officers on a chase through Capilano River canyon, ending up trapped clinging to a cliff face near the suspension bridge.
The drama started just after 4 p.m. when a resident near the 4800-block of Capilano Road surprised an intruder coming out of his carport. The suspect took off, jumping a fence into a neighbour’s backyard, with the homeowner in pursuit, said Sgt. Doug Trousdell of the North Vancouver RCMP.
That neighbour called police after she saw the suspect drop a bag of jewelry in her yard, then disappear over the edge of the embankment that leads down to the Capilano canyon.
Two officers and a police tracking dog arrived on the scene near the Capilano fish hatchery soon after and began following the suspect down into the canyon towards the river.
While fleeing police, the suspect appeared to go into the water at times, said Trousdell, leading officers to worry he may have been swept away by the creek.
Near dusk, however, he was spotted by another police officer from the Capilano Suspension Bridge, clinging to a steep cliff face. “He couldn’t go up or down,”said Trousdell.
An RCMP aerial extraction team was called in, arriving between 5 and 5:30 p.m. to pull the suspect off the cliff with ropes. The man had minor injuries from his scramble through the canyon and was suffering from hypothermia. He was taken to Lions Gate Hospital to be checked, and was later released into police custody and spent the remainder of the night in jail.
The two officers and police dog who tracked the suspect through the canyon were also hauled out by the aerial rescue team.
Police are recommending a charge of break-and-enter against a 22-year-old North Vancouver man. He was to appear in court Friday afternoon.
