Lucky no one was injured in cross-Calgary dangerous driving incident, police say

A man is facing more than a dozen charges after a dangerous driving incident with a stolen vehicle in Calgary earlier this week.

Police say it was around 1:20 p.m. on Monday when officers found a stolen vehicle with two people in it in the area of 19 Avenue SE and 35 Street SE.

Officers began surveillance on the vehicle and watched a third person get inside.

Helicopter Air Watch for Community Safety (HAWCS) took over surveillance while a marked police vehicle moved in to attempt a traffic stop.

Police say the driver sped away from police and the cruiser pulled back. However, HAWCS continued to monitor from the air.

A short time later, the passengers got out of the vehicle on 47 Street SE in Forest Lawn and arrested by officers. One of the passengers was taken into custody on outstanding warrants and the other was released from custody without charge.

The driver, however, continued to driver dangerously through residential areas of the city for an extended period of time at high rates of speed. Police say he failed to stop for red lights and drive into oncoming traffic. He also narrowly avoided hitting pedestrians in several intersections.

“This driver posed a significant risk to our community. It is only by luck that no one was injured during his reckless disregard for public safety as he sped through our city. This is criminal behaviour and we will not stop until we have drivers such as this in custody,” said District 4 Staff Sgt. Lee Dunbar.

Officers were getting ready to intervene with the vehicle around 2:30 p.m. when it stopped near 6 Avenue and 5 Street SW. The driver was arrested without incident.

A search of the vehicle found methamphetamine, fentanyl, two scales, cash, and bear spray.

The suspect was found to have a criminal suspension of his driver’s licence, police say, was bound by a release order, a probation order, and had several outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Thirty-three-year-old Dustin Harold Grainger is now facing 16 charges, including one count of possession of stolen property under $5,000, one count of flight from a police officer, and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

He remains in custody and is set to appear in court on Friday, Oct. 24.