A truck driver is being credited with helping RCMP catch an American man who drove through the border in Beaver Creek.
At around 3 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, Canada Border Security Agency officers refused to allow a 40-year-old Utah man into Canada because of his lengthy criminal record, police say.
They told him he could turn around and return to the U.S.
“He at first accepted this option and started to head back towards the U.S. border but then made a U-turn and drove down the opposite side of the road around the border guard building and headed southbound on the Alaska Highway through the town of Beaver Creek,” the RCMP said in a statement.
Mounties from Beaver Creek, Haines Junction and Whitehorse were all called in to help with the search.
Drivers in the area were also given a description of the vehicle.
While RCMP members were investigating a single motor vehicle collision unrelated to the border-running incident, “a helpful truck driver advised them that he had spotted the suspect vehicle now driving northbound towards the Duke River Bridge on the Alaska Highway,” police say.
Officers were able to arrest a man within minutes.
His name was not released. He has been turned over to border security officials and is now facing charges and fines under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
(Ashley Joannou)