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RCMP nab suspected highway-ramming truck driver following extensive investigation

It’s a motto they’ve used throughout their entire history, and following a key arrest made recently in connection to an incident in Rimbey where a police cruiser was rammed a number of times, the RCMP does indeed, always get their man.

Review staff

It’s a motto they’ve used throughout their entire history, and following a key arrest made recently in connection to an incident in Rimbey where a police cruiser was rammed a number of times, the RCMP does indeed, always get their man.

Following an extensive investigation involving members of Red Deer City, Red Deer Rural, Sylvan Lake, Rimbey and Ponoka Detachments of the RCMP, police have arrested a 47 year-old Red Deer man in relation to numerous driving offences, vehicle thefts and hazardous pursuits involving speeds of over 160 kilometers per hour through city streets as well as Highway 20 south of Rimbey.

Jeramie Jules Bissonnette is currently in custody and is facing a long list of criminal charges connected to the ramming incident that occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 17, that left Cst. Daniel Kenny with minor injuries.

As a result of that incident, Bissonnette is facing a number of charges including: Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Flight from Police, Driving while Disqualified, Possession of Stolen Property, Assault with a Weapon, and Breach of Recognizance.

In addition, Bissonnette has also been charged with several counts of Break Enter and Theft in relation to other investigations conducted in numerous jurisdictions in central Alberta.

Constable Kenny was investigating a suspected stolen vehicle which he had located in Rimbey when the vehicle suddenly fled at a high rate of speed. Kenny followed the vehicle with his emergency equipment activated, but the driver would not stop. Police continued to pursue the vehicle at speeds reaching 160 kilometres per hour.

At one point the vehicle stopped suddenly, reversed direction and rammed the police vehicle three times, driving over it and onto the vehicle’s roof, disabling it and injuring the RCMP officer. It then fled the scene.

Three days later on Feb. 20, Red Deer City RCMP officers again encountered Bissonnette who was driving another vehicle which had been reported stolen. An attempt to stop the vehicle using emergency equipment was unsuccessful, as the vehicle again fled at a high rate of speed. RCMP briefly engaged the vehicle in a pursuit within the city which reached speeds of up to 140 kilometres per hour. Police chose to discontinue the pursuit in order to ensure the public was not unnecessarily placed at risk. Again the driver was able to evade apprehension.

But not for long.

The following day Red Deer City RCMP officers were able to determine that Bissonnette was at a relative’s residence in Red Deer. They attended that address, and although he attempted to flee on foot, Bissonnette was subsequently arrested and taken in to custody. The accused has already appeared in court on Feb. 22 and 25 and on March 7 and is being held in remand until another court date scheduled for some time in April.

The RCMP have also confirmed that Bissonnette has been connected to a mysterious fire that broke out in a barn directly across the highway from where the stolen truck involved in the ramming incidents was found following the chase, however no charges related to the fire have been laid.

As a result of the above charges and numerous other thefts, break and enters, high-speed pursuits and other criminal activities, Bissonnette is facing more than 50 charges.

As for Constable Kenny who recently returned to active duty following the incident, all is pretty much back to normal.

“I feel good. I’ve been back to work for almost two weeks now. My back was bugging me a little but I was going to physiotherapy for it and there’s been a big improvement in it,” he said. “It was just a bit of muscle strain and that’s about it. My neck healed up pretty fast – there was a bit of whiplash, but in a couple of days I was back to normal.”

He said he received many calls for a speedy recovery from family, friends, the public and even his superiors.

Both his father and two brothers who are RCMP officers called him from the east coast to wish him well along with the commanding officer of K-Division in Alberta who called him to wish him the best.

“A lot of people were calling and concerned to see how I was doing and we actually had flowers dropped off at the office for thanks for the work we do and stuff like that, so I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback,” Kenny said. “Honestly, I felt bad for the members coming up from the Sylvan Lake Detachment. It was over quick for me, the scary part was done for me real fast. But for those guys it had to be pretty scary because they didn’t really know what was going on.”

Despite the serious nature of the highway-ramming incident, Kenny said the ordeal has brought him a bit of notoriety, even if the facts aren’t necessarily entirely straight.

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“Almost every person I seem to stop now or I bump into say, ‘oh look, it’s the guy who got run over’ and they ask me how everything is going and how am I doing and all that,” he said. “ So now, I’m pretty much known as the guy that got run over. That’s the way they talk about it, but it’s kind of funny.”

Regardless of the levity that has resulted, Kenny said the incident was quite scary, especially after he had time to digest what he had just gone through.

“It happened so fast that I never really had the chance to get scared. I was just sort of wondering what was going on. The car was going around and I was trying to get some control over it, but it was over really fast,” he said. “Afterwards though, yes, you’re a little shaken up after something like that happens but you’ve got to work through it and move on. You can’t dwell on that kind of stuff.”

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“Almost every person I seem to stop now or I bump into say, ‘oh look, it’s the guy who got run over’ and they ask me how everything is going and how am I doing and all that,” he said. “ So now, I’m pretty much known as the guy that got run over. That’s the way they talk about it, but it’s kind of funny.”

Regardless of the levity that has resulted, Kenny said the incident was quite scary, especially after he had time to digest what he had just gone through.

“It happened so fast that I never really had the chance to get scared. I was just sort of wondering what was going on. The car was going around and I was trying to get some control over it, but it was over really fast,” he said. “Afterwards though, yes, you’re a little shaken up after something like that happens but you’ve got to work through it and move on. You can’t dwell on that kind of stuff.”