One person arrested after ramming into a Beaverlodge RCMP vehicle after pursuit

BEAVERLODGE, A.B. – One man is in custody after allegedly ramming into a Beaverlodge RCMP vehicle.

Just before 11 a.m. on Christmas eve, a Beaverlodge RCMP member spotted Angus Byron Ferguson on the Horse Lake First Nation.

Ferguson was wanted on 16 outstanding warrants, including one for assault a police officer with a weapon. Ferguson is a known offender with a history of violence against police.

Ferguson saw the RCMP and sped out of the community, northbound towards highway 43. The RCMP tried to effect a traffic stop, but Ferguson failed to stop, and a pursuit was initiated. The pursuit went into the Spirit River area, where Beaverlodge members and Grande Prairie and Spirit River members were all involved in trying to stop Ferguson’s truck.

The pursuit moved to a dead-end lease site road where tire deflation devices were set up. Ferguson rammed several police vehicles and managed to flee onto Highway 49. RCMP vehicles eventually forced Ferguson’s truck off the roadway. Ferguson exited his truck and attempted to steal a civilian vehicle but was not successful.

After making contact with Ferguson, the police dog was deployed at 1:25 p.m. RCMP members were able to effect his arrest. Ferguson was transported to Grande Prairie hospital for treatment and then taken to the RCMP Detachment, where he was held for a judicial interim release hearing.

While it is very fortunate that no RCMP members were injured throughout this event, three RCMP cars sustained substantial damage and were not driveable.

Ferguson is facing 13 criminal charges as a result of this incident, including flight from police and four counts of assaulting a police officer with a weapon. Ferguson is remanded in custody and scheduled to appear in court in Grande Prairie on Jan. 4, 2021.