Man faces laundry list of charges after attempting escape from police

By CityNews Halifax Staff

An Ellershouse man is facing a laundry list of charges after trying to escape from police earlier this month.

On April 6 at roughly 9:40 a.m., Mounties saw a man driving who was involved in an assault that took place the previous day in Ellershouse.

The suspect was driving on Hwy. 7 and when police attempted a traffic stop, the man didn’t comply.

Police say they did not pursue the vehicle and instead, tried to stop the man using spike belts.

To avoid one of the belts, the man swerved his vehicle and struck a commercial truck, which was stopped in traffic. The suspect then took off from the scene.

Meantime, other Mounties were on the Forest Hills Extension attending an unrelated motor vehicle collision which shut down the roadway.

RCMP say they anticipated the suspect would travel through the area and laid down spike belts across both lanes, as a result.

According to police, when the man approached, he tried to go around a police vehicle, but was unsuccessful and when officers told him he was under arrest, he reversed his truck and got stuck in the nearby ditch.

The driver was arrested by members of HRP and a K-9 team. He resisted arrest and sustained a bite on his lower leg from the police dog.

He was treated by EHS at the scene and taken into custody.

Randall Blanchard, 35, has been charged with:

• Assault causing bodily harm
• Forcible confinement
• Uttering threats
• Breaking and entering with intent
• Mischief
• Theft of a motor vehicle
• Failure to comply with a release order (four counts)
• Dangerous operation of a conveyance
• Flight from peace officer
• Failure to stop after accident
• Resists a peace officer

Blanchard was remanded in custody and was scheduled to appear in Windsor Provincial Court on Tuesday.