Videos shared on TikTok Sunday afternoon captured a man at the Peach Arch border crossing attempting to make a run from Blaine, Wash., across the Canadian border.
Kelsey Harding with the Washington State Patrol said they received a call from Whatcom County dispatchers that a man had been involved in a robbery in Bellingham and had fled northbound on I-5 in a stolen car toward the Canadian border.
Sgt. Timothy Richardson with the Blaine Police Department told Global News the suspect vehicle, a white Hyundai Santa Fe, was stolen from Seattle.
“While feeling from police, the suspect vehicle struck a marked WSP vehicle,” he said in an email statement.
Harding confirmed the trooper was not seriously injured.
She said the trooper started a short pursuit of the vehicle along I-5 northbound with the suspect driving on the shoulder at a “high rate of speed.”
That trooper then lost sight of the suspect but a witness called the police after seeing the driver accelerating on the highway, Harding added.
She said it was obvious the person was heading to the Canadian border and they advised the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) of what was happening.
Richardson said Blaine officers saw the suspect vehicle driving northbound into the city and that is when video captures the Santa Fe driving across the grass at the Peace Arch border crossing.
As the suspect crossed the boundary into Canada, Blaine police stopped the pursuit, Richardson explained, and saw the Santa Fe striking several vehicles in the northbound lineup.
The video then captures the man getting out of the car and running towards the Canadian border.
CBSA confirmed to Global News that officers were able to intercept the man without incident and after conducting an interview, he was transferred back to Washington State Patrol.
Harding said the man is 30 years old and has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, felony eluding and assault in the 2nd degree.
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