It was a wild trip home for a Ajax man and his girlfriend after spotting OPP trying to stop two camper trailers all over the road on Highway 401 on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
Mike Sidey and his girlfriend Elizabeth Williams had just got on Highway 401 westbound at Trenton after attending a wedding and were heading home to Ajax at approximately 11:30 a.m.
As soon as they got on the highway, Sidey noticed a unmarked OPP cruiser also getting on the highway behind him.
As soon as the police car entered the highway, “he took off,” said Sidey.
Curious as to what was happening, Sidey picked up his speed as well, but lost sight of the cruiser.
Approximately five minutes into their travels back to Ajax, the couple noticed two trailers that were travelling slow.
“There were two trailers in the slow lane – traffic was slowed down because they were going slow.”
Sidey said he drifted over to the emergency lane just to see if he could spot what was happening.
“I could see the OPP officer on the side of the road with his (emergency) lights on standing outside the cruiser trying to flag those two participants down.”
Both trailers were all over the road as it appeared the trailers were to heavy for the trucks that were pulling them.
At one point Sidey and his girlfriend pulled up beside the U-Haul truck and got a good look at the driver and passenger.
“I actually slowed right down and tried to get the U-Haul drivers attention.”
A man was driving the U-Haul and a woman was in the passenger seat. Both looked to be in their early 60’s.
“I was keeping pace with them maybe doing 70 kph but realized I was holding up traffic. But they would not look over at all.”
“I was right beside them at one point.”
Both were white, and both were wearing glasses. The woman was wearing a hat.
The trailer with the U-Haul started to merge over as if he was going to stop near where the police were standing.
Police were set-up at a emergency turn around on the highway and when the U-Haul driver which was towing the camper/trailer started to pull over, “he smoked the tires and locked it up and came to a brief stop and took off again.”
“The other guy cut in behind the tractor-trailer, cutting people off and just started to go.”
Sidey said he looked at the OPP officer as he passed by and the officer just threw his hands up in the air.
That’s when Williams got her cell phone out and started filming around the Lake Road overpass area of Highway 401 near Colborne.
“I thought he was going to tip the whole thing over by the way it was swaying.”
“That was like Grand Theft Auto live.”
The same OPP officer finally caught up and passed Sidey and Williams who were filming.
(Sidey initially thought that OPP had pulled over the U-Haul trailer, but wasn’t sure)
Sidey and another driver beside him were blocking anyone from passing because the trailer was all over the highway and to dangerous.
“The part that I find funny is it took a good 10-minutes before that OPP officer caught up to us because I had the trailer in front of me the whole time.”
As the pursuit came up to the Colborne exit, Sidey said the driver of the trailer slowed down and stopped just on the shoulder of the highway.
When the police car got in front, the trailer took the exit off of the highway.
“He played that perfectly. He knew what he was doing.”
“When he had stopped, he forced the officer to get into that emergency lane and once the officer was in the emergency lane, that’s when the guy booked it on the off-ramp.”
Sidey said the police cruiser’s only choice was to go up the on-ramp against traffic with the vehicles emergency lights activated.
As Sidey and his girlfriend continued, they saw three other police cruisers heading eastbound with their emergency lights activated.
Looking back, Sidey said he’s glad his girlfriend filmed the incident because no one would have believed him if he would have tried to describe it.
“We weren’t sure if the driver was drunk of if they just did not have control of their vehicle, said Williams.
“It was such a bizarre thing to witness. I really don’t know how they thought they were going to outrun the cop car.”
The pursuit ended when the vehicle was stopped at George Court in Colborne and the driver arrested.
Quinte West Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has charged a driver after he failed to stop for police.
Quinte West OPP issued a released on Monday, March 13, 2023
On March 12, 2023, at approximately 11:30 a.m., an officer was patrolling Highway 401, Quinte West when he attempted to pull over a truck that was undersized for the large trailer it was towing.
The driver continued to travel for a considerable distance, eventually coming to a stop in Cr amahe Township of Northumberland County. Officers from both detachment areas were able to arrest the driver without further incident. The investigation revealed that the trailer had been reported as stolen. A small quantity of drugs was also recovered at the time of the arrest.
Pierre AUBIN, 59 years old, from Ottawa has been charged with the following offences:
Flight from Peace Officer – Criminal Code (CC)
Possession of Property Obtained by Crime over $5000 – CC
Possession of Schedule 1 Substance – Opioid – CC
Possession of Schedule 1 Substance – Cocaine – CC
Operate Unsafe Vehicle – Highway Traffic Act (HTA)
Driving While Under Suspension – HTA
The accused was released from custody and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville on April 24, 2023.
Today’s Northumberland has learned two camper/trailers were stolen from the Ottawa Region and are trying to obtain more information.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
