A man and his teenage passenger were arrested Tuesday after the stolen vehicle he was driving crashed into a C-Tran bus in central Vancouver.
A Vancouver police detective radioed Tuesday around 11:30 a.m. that he was behind a stolen vehicle occupied by two people near Northeast 62nd Avenue and Fourth Plain Boulevard.
The driver pulled into the parking lot of Silver Star Saloon but exited back onto Fourth Plain as the detective was waiting for backup, Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said in an email.
The detective tried to stop the car from leaving the saloon’s parking lot by turning on their lights and partially blocking the exit, but the driver swerved around the detective’s vehicle and sped away eastbound, Kapp said. Police did not chase the suspect at that time.
According to Vancouver police, the suspect ran into a C-Tran bus at East Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast Royal Oaks Drive within minutes.
Christine Selk, C-Tran’s communication and public affairs manager, said a Vine bus carrying four passengers was struck by a car, and no one was injured.
The bus was at a standstill when it was hit, Selk said. The impact caused moderate damage to the back of the bus; a rear tire was replaced and the bus was driven back to C-Tran’s campus for a full inspection, which revealed there had been no damage to the frame.
The bus will likely be out of commission for some time, Selk said.
Responding officers saw two people exit the stolen vehicle and take off on foot through neighborhoods near Royal Oaks Golf and Country Club. They were tracked with the help of a police canine.
Ronald Z. Montgomery-Chamizo, 23, was booked into Clark County Jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding law enforcement.
The passenger, a 17-year-old boy, was arrested for a felony juvenile warrant.
