An 18-year-old London, Ont., man is facing several charges in connection with a series of incidents Thursday afternoon in the city’s east end that began as a vehicle test drive gone awry and turned into a collision and the attempted theft of another vehicle, police say.
Police say they responded to the area of Highbury Avenue and Trafalgar Street around 4:50 p.m. after an eastbound car ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle.
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Police say the suspect fled the vehicle with a female friend, and attempted to open the doors of several other vehicles that were stopped at the red light on Trafalgar.
“After a number of failed attempts, the suspect opened the door of a car and attempted to physically remove the driver from the vehicle,” police said in a statement.
Witnesses to the scene apprehended the man until police arrived on scene, police said.
According to investigators, the suspect had been purportedly taking the vehicle out for a test drive after finding it posted to an online buy-and-sell site.
The vehicle’s owner and a family member were also in the vehicle at the time of the crash, and police allege the suspect had been driving the vehicle at high speeds into oncoming traffic in east London prior to the collision.
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No injuries were reported in the incident.
An 18-year-old man from London faces charges including dangerous operation of a conveyance, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, robbery and assault with intent to steal, and driving a motor vehicle without a licence.
He remained in custody as of Friday afternoon, when he was scheduled to appear in court.