Suspects crash into Montreal police cars three times in one day

Union worried about cop cruisers being hit Montreal's police brotherhood is concerned about the number of recent collisions involving suspects in stolen vehicles.

A police officer was injured Monday in one of three incidents of drivers crashing their vehicles into a patrol car, Montreal police said.

Two of the collisions involved stolen vehicles, according to police.

In the first case, at around 11 a.m., officers spotted a suspected stolen vehicle near Rene-Levesque Street and Tricentenaire Boulevard in Pointe-Aux-Trembles. Police said the car refused to stop and the officers followed it to 28th Avenue and Ubald-Paquin Street where it collided with a police cruiser that was parked sideways to block the street.

The car hit the police car and then kept going, according to Montreal Police spokesperson Veronique Dubuc. Police only found it abandoned at 36th Avenue and Victoria.

Dubuc says the suspects who got away are described as males in their 20s.

There have been no arrests as of Monday evening.

Not long after, an officer who was investigating a report of a stolen vehicle was struck while inside a cruiser in Dorval. At around 12:30 p.m., police located a vehicle that was reported stolen. A suspect was seen entering the car at the intersection of 55th Avenue and Lindsay Avenue, and they noted at least one other person was inside it.

Police say the first suspect fled the scene and was apprehended after a brief foot chase.

The second suspect took off in the vehicle and crashed into a police cruiser, which hit a police officer. The officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

Police lost sight of the vehicle travelling at high speeds but later located it on Bord-du-Lac-Lakeshore in Pointe-Claire.

The highway was closed briefly, and police officers are searching the area for the second suspect.

Third incident in Rosemont

Police are also investigating another incident after officers noticed an unregistered black Honda CRV committing several traffic violations, including crashing into another vehicle, around 2:30 p.m. in Rosemont.

Police attempted to stop the vehicle, which "deliberately" drove into an oncoming patrol car, Dubuc said. The cruiser was seriously damaged, but no citizens or officers were injured.

There was no police pursuit. After the suspect — a Caucasian man believed to be in his 30s — fled the scene, police started receiving several 911 calls about traffic violations. Dubuc said the driver could possibly face charges of dangerous driving, armed assault and hit-and-run.

Following the collision, 18th Avenue was closed between Masson Street and Laurier Avenue.

With files from Max Harrold