Armed robbery starts at Port Coquitlam car dealership and ends with gun shots, car crash, carjacking and two arrests
Suspects in an armed robbery exchanged gunfire with police Tuesday afternoon during a pursuit that spanned Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, New Westminster and Surrey, officials said.
Police were still searching for two suspects into the night.
At about 3:40 p.m., police responded to a report of four armed suspects stealing a car from a dealership near Lougheed Highway and Dominion Avenue in Port Coquitlam. The suspects fled in the stolen vehicle, Coquitlam RCMP said.
The suspects and police exchanged gunshots during the chase.
Part of the police chase was captured on video at the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Pitt River Road. It showed a black Mercedes sedan travelling at high speeds under pursuit.
The stolen vehicle crashed on Highway 1 in Coquitlam near the King Edward overpass and all four suspects fled.
Witness Randy Kang said he stepped out of his work at Lougheed Acura at 4 p.m. and saw several police vehicles.
He then spotted police officers chasing the suspects. One suspect fell to the ground and was surrounded by police, while the others continued to flee.
Kang said he heard what sounded like three gunshots aimed at the remaining suspects, but they appeared to escape.
“It was terrifying,” Kang said. “I was very concerned for the public.”
@CTVVancouver pic.twitter.com/jqHPiPL5SK
— R Kang (@RKang20670551) November 23, 2022
Other witnesses in vehicles that were caught in the area saw heavily armed police running through traffic looking for suspects.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Alexa Hodgins said that one suspect was arrested on Highway 1, while another carjacked a vehicle on the highway and fled to Surrey where they were arrested.
As of Tuesday evening, two suspects remained at large.
During the incident the Scott Road (Surrey) and Braid (New Westminster) SkyTrain stations were closed, with a heavy police presence in those areas.
Hodgins said no police officers were injured. The two suspects that were arrested were also unharmed.
“We would like to thank our policing partners in Burnaby, Surrey, New Westminster, Vancouver, Maple Ridge and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team (ERT) for their assistance,” Hodgins said.
