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A 19-year-old man was taken to hospital after a vehicle linked by police to an alleged fraud attempt in Val-des-Sources later collided with a farm tractor on Route 255 in St-Félix-de-Kingsey Tuesday evening.
According to the Sûreté du Québec, officers with the MRC des Sources detachment were called at about 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 following a reported attempted “fake representative” fraud in the area of 3rd Avenue in Val-des-Sources.
Police said officers located a suspect vehicle, but the driver refused to stop.
A pursuit followed. Officers deployed a spike strip in an attempt to stop the vehicle, but the driver avoided it and continued fleeing, according to the SQ.
Police said the vehicle was lost from sight several times before it later collided with a farm tractor in the Route 255 area of St-Félix-de-Kingsey.
The 19-year-old driver of the suspect vehicle was transported to hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The tractor driver suffered minor injuries.
An SQ collision investigator was sent to the scene to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Route 255 was closed during the investigation and traffic was diverted. The road reopened at about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.
According to the SQ, the 19-year-old’s driver’s licence was suspended for seven days in connection with excessive speeding. His vehicle was also towed and seized for the investigation.
Police are continuing to investigate the reported fraud attempt.
The SQ said several dozen fraud files had been reported in the MRC des Sources and MRC du Val-Saint-François over the previous 48 hours. Investigators will work to determine whether any of those cases are connected to the suspect.
The man is expected to be interviewed by investigators and could eventually face charges related to fraud, dangerous driving and fleeing from police. No charges had been announced in the information released by the SQ.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed Tuesday evening’s events to contact the Sûreté du Québec’s Criminal Information Centre confidentially at 1-800-659-4264.
Anyone who believes they may have been targeted by this type of fraud is also encouraged to report the incident to the SQ and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501.
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