Man arrested for driving erratically in Greater Victoria for 2nd time in 2 weeks, police say

A man arrested for driving erratically in Victoria on Friday is the same man who crashed his Tesla head-on into an Oak Bay police cruiser last week, Victoria police say.

Friday’s incidents began around 3:45 p.m., according to a news release from the Victoria Police Department.

At that time, officers began receiving reports that a possibly impaired man was driving a rental vehicle erratically. They also received reports of road rage and dangerous driving incidents in the Hillside Quadra area.

The vehicle and suspect descriptions for each of the incidents matched, police said.

Investigators soon learned that the suspect was the same man who was arrested in Saanich on Sept. 1 after a similar incident, according to the VicPD.

In that incident, the driver of a white Tesla reportedly fled from police, crashing into several Oak Bay and Saanich police vehicles. 

After colliding head-on with an Oak Bay police cruiser, the driver in that incident refused to exit the vehicle, prompting police to call in the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team and a canine unit.

The Saanich Police Department investigation into that incident is ongoing, Victoria police said.

On Friday in Victoria, officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver fled. Officers did not pursue him “in order to lower the risk to the public,” police said.

Additional officers were soon able to box the driver in at Hillside Avenue and Doncaster Drive, where police said the man got out of the vehicle and approached officers, attempting to fight with them.

An officer used a conducted energy weapon – better known as a Taser – to subdue the suspect, police said.

He was taken into police custody and brought to hospital for a medical evaluation, something the VicPD said is required whenever a Taser is deployed. The man was “otherwise uninjured,” according to police.

After the arrest, Saanich police officers served the driver with a 14-month driving prohibition issued by B.C.’s Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.

The VicPD investigation is also ongoing, and police are asking anyone who witnessed an incident involving a white, late model Hyundai Kona on Friday afternoon – or has video of an incident involving such a vehicle – to contact them. Tips can be provided by calling the VicPD report desk at 250-995-7654, extension 1.