Former cop stuck on Hwy 11 for hours during home invasion manhunt says motorists were ‘left in the dark’

A former police officer caught in the Highway 11 closure on Canada Day as police conducted a manhunt says the situation was unnerving.

A former police officer caught in the Highway 11 closure on Canada Day as police conducted a manhunt for suspects in an alleged home invasion says the situation was unnerving.

Nancy Turley was a Toronto police officer in the late 80s, and said she was struck in her vehicle for four hours on Tuesday, adding drivers had no information about what was going on.

Turley, who currently works for the Salvation Army, said she was on her way to deliver a presentation in Georgina when she drove up to hundreds of vehicles on the highway at a standstill. Initially thinking it was an accident, she called her husband and asked her son to check for information online. “He found out about some home invasion up in Huntsville,” she said.

“I thought it was a little bit ridiculous because if, in fact, these (suspects) are running around with guns like we were told and (police) were trying to catch them, I think the drivers were far more at risk just sitting there for four hours in their cars,” Turley said.

The former cop said she feels communication that morning was seriously lacking.

“Nobody from the OPP gave anybody any information, and we just sat there wondering what was going on - other than a message to shelter in place in our cars with the doors locked, which was a little bit ominous on a hot summer morning,” Turley said.

The hold and secure measure was issued by the OPP after officers responded to a report about an armed home invasion around 5 a.m. in Hillside, just east of Huntsville. The situation prompted the closure of a stretch of Highway 11.

The investigation then moved south down the highway between the Washago and Gravenhurst area, with six suspects eventually taken into custody.

“The priority in an investigation like that is going to be the safety of the victims and their well-being, and also at the same time, trying to apprehend the people who did it,” OPP Const. Ted Warman said to CTV News on Thursday.

OPP said informing stranded drivers about the circumstances of the investigation could have created panic, making the situation worse.

“Do we want people to turn their cars around on a highway and go the wrong way because they’re afraid? I don’t think that would have resolved or solved anything,” Warman added.

• Related Article | Six in custody after police lift shelter-in-place advisory on Highway 11 in Huntsville, Ont.

OPP confirmed to CTV News a brief pursuit occurred when the suspect vehicles were identified and a spike belt was deployed.

The six suspects, with ages ranging from 16 to 27, all from the Greater Toronto Area, are charged with various offences in the alleged home invasion, including robbery with a firearm and kidnapping.

While there were no reports of any weapons being fired, police say the victims of the home invasion were treated for minor injuries.

Investigators continue to appeal to the public for more information as they believe additional suspects who may be armed and dangerous remain at large, along with a stolen silver Honda SUV with Ontario licence plate CZFE 895. Police urge anyone who sees the vehicle to call 911 and warns not to approach it.

Turley said that when police finally let the stranded motorists through, she could see, what she believed was a suspect vehicle, in the ditch. “The doors were wide open and there was all sorts of mess on the road and skid marks.”

With files from The Canadian Press