A 29-year-old Regina man is facing a litany of charges after more than a month on the run.
The Regina Police Service issued a warrant for the arrest of Tyler Jonas Lavallee on Aug. 28, after a car he allegedly was driving was involved in a collision at Seventh Avenue and Lewvan Drive.
According to police, officers were stopped on Lewvan at about 12:20 a.m., on another matter. After hearing a crash down the road, they could see one of the drivers take off running.
Investigators determined one vehicle was southbound on Lewvan and going through a green light when it was struck by a vehicle that ran a red light. The man who took off was driving the latter vehicle.
Officers couldn’t find the suspect, but a search of his vehicle found a gun. The investigation determined the identity of the man and found he was in breach of court-ordered driving and firearms prohibitions. He also was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant for breach of statutory release.
On Sept. 5, officers were called to the 2100 block of Smith Street for a gun call. They were told a man in a vehicle pulled up to another vehicle and told its driver, a 28-year-old woman, to get out of her car. Police say he forced the woman into his vehicle, threatened a witness with a gun and drove off.
Police later found the woman, but the man — identified as Lavallee — wasn’t located.
On Sept. 21, police responded to the 2100 block of Smith after a caller had concerns about the safety of a woman who was with a man armed with a gun.
Before officers could check on the woman, a man left the home and went into a parking lot. Police saw a vehicle leave the lot, identified the driver as Lavallee and tried to pull over the vehicle. It drove away and officers didn’t follow due to what police called the “volume of vehicles and pedestrians.”
On Tuesday, a police operation involving multiple RCMP detachments located Lavallee at a home on the Ochapowace First Nation. He was arrested and faces 15 charges, including kidnapping, uttering threats, flight from a peace officer, possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order, and failing to stop or remain at the scene of an accident.
He made his first court appearance Wednesday.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lavallee was sentenced to 5 1/2 years behind bars after being found guilty of a number of charges — including firearms possession, flight from a police officer and driving while prohibited — on Aug. 10, 2022.