During the evening hours of July 16, Columbia Valley RCMP received a report of a boat being stolen from an address in Radium Hot Springs.

The complainant reported that the boat had been stolen out of a driveway by two males who were operating a Blue Ford Raptor truck.

RCMP immediately responded and was advised en route that the blue truck had been involved in a collision on Highway 93 near the Radium hot pools and the vehicles were immobilized.

The owner, who followed the boat, tried to confront the thieves but he was bear sprayed by one of the males. The two men then fled on foot and were not immediately located; Columbia Valley RCMP then engaged the Police Dog Service out of Cranbrook who attended and searched for the two suspects; however, they were not located because of terrain and darkness.

At about 8 a.m. the next morning RCMP was alerted back to the area as the two suspects were seen emerging from the woods; the suspects were soon located and arrested in Radium Hot Springs.

The two men are both from Alberta. They had stolen the Blue Raptor and came to the valley. Both have previous history of being involved in similar offences. Both men are facing two counts of possession of stolen property, theft of a motor vehicle, assault with a weapon and several breaches surrounding their previous releases, reported Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment commander Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck.

The incident at the scene of the crash was well documented by cell phone camera footage and shared on social media.

The above image taken from a social media post shows the two alleged suspects walking back into Radium Hot Springs July 17. They were quickly arrested soon after arriving back in the village.

e-KNOW

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