PRINCE ALBERT — A 22-year-old woman has been charged following an armed robbery and vehicle pursuit that ended in the North Saskatchewan River last week.
Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) have charged Destiny Hansen with robbery, dangerous driving, and failing to stop for police. She appeared in Prince Albert Provincial Court on June 12 and was remanded in custody.
Investigators are still working to determine whether she was impaired at the time of the incident. Police say no charges will be laid against the 27-year-old woman who was in the vehicle with her.
Police say after reviewing the circumstances, they determined the threshold for a Serious Incident Response Team investigation wasn’t met, and SIRT is no longer involved.
The investigation stems from a June 11 robbery reported around 2:15 a.m. in the Crescent Acres area, in the 2700 block of 2nd Avenue East, where a woman told police she had been robbed of her vehicle at gunpoint. Officers arrived to find two women who weren’t physically injured, but the stolen vehicle had already fled.
Within minutes, police located the vehicle near Marquis Road East and 4th Avenue East. Police activated their emergency equipment, but the driver didn’t stop. A pursuit was authorized due to the violent nature of the initial call, say PAPS.
The vehicle travelled east on Marquis Road, then north on 15th Avenue East toward River Street East, where it entered the North Saskatchewan River at about 2:20 a. m.
Police saw two occupants in the water. With assistance from the Prince Albert Fire Department rescue boat and an RCMP drone, officers located the 22-year-old driver on the riverbank. She was taken to Victoria Hospital with minor injuries and arrested.
The second woman was initially unaccounted for, prompting extensive search efforts involving the Prince Albert Fire Department, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, RCMP Dive Team, RCMP K9, Saskatchewan Marshals Service, Saskatchewan Association of Volunteers (SARSAV), and Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Search Team teams. She was later found uninjured.
Police say they continue to investigate.
