A Winnipeg woman faces a slew of charges after she stole a 5-ton truck, led police on a chase, then struck an RCMP officer and damaged a parked police cruiser before eventually smashing into a school bus last week.
RCMP said they were told about a stolen truck that had been taken from a business on Paramount Road in Winnipeg on May 7 at about 9:35 a.m. The driver and the truck were spotted on the west Perimeter Highway going south, so RCMP turned around and tried to stop the driver.
The truck eventually stopped near Roblin Boulevard, and officers got out of their vehicle to order the driver out. The truck started moving again and “struck an officer, while causing damages to a parked police car,” said Stonewall RCMP.
While officers on scene tended to their injured comrade, the truck sped off towards Oak Bluff and RCMP gave chase.
RCMP tried to use a spike belt to slow the truck, but the driver instead swerved into the ditch and kept driving on the nearby service road, said RCMP. At the intersection of Hwy. 2 and Macdonald Road, the driver hit a short school bus with the stolen truck before speeding off again. No children were inside and no one was hurt.
Police lost sight of the truck, but soon a “suspicious person” walking in a field near Road 50 NE and Macdonald Road, just southwest of Oak Bluff was spotted.
At about 11:15 a.m., officers found the woman, determined she was the driver of the stolen truck and she was arrested. The truck was found behind a shop off Macdonald Road.
Tara Kaminski, 42, of Winnipeg faces several charges, including assaulting a police officer with a weapon causing bodily harm, drug-impaired driving causing bodily harm, theft of a motor vehicle over $5,000, dangerous operation of a vehicle, flight and resistance from police and driving while prohibited.
She is in custody.
