An OPP officer walks past a stolen truck at the scene on the QEW in Burlington shortly after a suspect was taken into custody and placed into the back of an OPP cruiser and driven away.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
The man accused of stealing a tractor trailer and leading a fleet of police cruisers and a helicopter on a five-hour highway pursuit that had people glued to their televisions Monday faces charges that include flight from police and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Jason Meadus, 40, appeared in a Milton court Tuesday.
While traffic snarled on the highway behind the conga line of a tractor-trailer and unmarked police cruisers, photos were posted to Twitter showing a man with his hands up being arrested at gunpoint on the side of the QEW in Burlington Monday.
"We didn't know what we were dealing with or who we were dealing with," said OPP Sergeant Dave Woodford at the time.
Now it appears it wasn't Mr. Meadus's first brush with the law: Peel police confirmed on Tuesday that Mr. Meadus was alleged to have been involved in the theft of two trucks that were full of Playstations and related gaming equipment. He was charged with three charges of possession of property by crime in December 2010, but the charges were dropped in September 2011.
In mid-November 2010, two 53-foot trailers were reported stolen from Eastern Avenue where they had been parked. The trucks, one with an Ontario licence plate and one with a Nebraska one, each contained $500,000 worth of Sony products.
The investigation resulted in the recovery of 1,600 pieces of equipment and 2,000 games. According to court documents, the three charges that were later dropped were in relation to possession of Sony products, hardwood flooring and canned tuna.
The truck that was stolen Monday belonged to Beamsville-based J-Line Transport Ltd., was reported missing from a Niagara-on-the-Lake truck stop at about 7 a.m., according to local police. The owner of the truck company declined to comment.
A regional Husky manager said the truck was taken from a man who is a regular customer at the Niagara Husky truck stop, but it was unclear if it was taken from that particular lot.
Police began following the truck during the morning, surrounding it with cruisers as it made its way down the highway. Sgt. Woodford said provincial police first started following the truck at about 8 a.m. when it was on the QEW. In the five hours that followed about five other police forces were involved, he said, as the truck was driven towards Halton, Peel, Cambridge, London and Toronto.
Police said the pursuit was not a "chase," as the vehicles were travelling close to the speed limit. "Transports themselves, because of the size of the vehicle, have a potential to cause a number of public safety issues on a highway," said Inspector Dave Ross of the multiple-cruiser pursuit.
He said it was unclear why the driver finally pulled over when he did, after being followed for hours. The gas tank was more than three-quarters full.
Mr. Meadus's bail hearing is set for Nov. 10.
With a report from Celia Donnelly