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A 20-year-old man who allegedly bashed his way through three police cars and three civilian vehicles in a stolen Nissan Murano to escape from a Metrotown parking lot two weeks ago now faces eight charges including assault of a police officer.
On April 5, following leads on a suspected stolen vehicle, members of Burnaby RCMP’s prolific offender suppression team tracked a man and woman to a Nissan Murano in a parking lot at Metrotown at about 1:30 p.m., according to police.
Officers used their police vehicles to block in the suspect SUV and arrest the man and woman, but the male driver allegedly used the vehicle to bash his way out, damaging three police vehicles and three parked cars in the process.
Three officers suffered minor bumps and bruises during the incident, but no civilians were hurt.
Shortly after the incident, police recovered the stolen vehicle in Dickens Place in Burnaby.
A suspect, 20-year-old Antonio Tahvili, was arrested by Coquitlam RCMP a day later on an outstanding, unrelated warrant.
He has now been charged with eight offences related to the Metrotown incident, including assault of a police officer, possession of property obtained by crime, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failure to stop at the scene of an accident and obstruction of a police officer.
“Our officers showed incredible courage as a large SUV was allegedly driven towards them, striking their police vehicles and pinning one of the officers between vehicles,” Burnaby RCMP Supt. Chuck McDonald stated in a press release. “This is a prime example of the risks that our members take on a daily basis to keep our city safe, and I am proud of the hard work done by our prolific offender suppression team to ensure the accused is facing serious charges in relation to this incident.”
The woman in the vehicle with Tahvili at the time of the incident was located but is not facing any related charges.
