Natasha Jones

Times Reporter

An RCMP investigation into a vehicle they believed had been stolen erupted in gunfire in Langley City on Friday evening.

Cpl. Holly Marks, who speaks for the Langley RCMP, said that shortly before 8 p.m., officers in two unmarked vehicles pulled up to a parked vehicle they suspected was stolen. They activated their emergency equipment as a third plainclothes officer approached the vehicle on foot.

He identified himself as a police officer and ordered the driver to turn off the engine.

The driver refused and put the vehicle in motion, striking one of the officers, a police vehicle, and a car belonging to a civilian.

Officers discharged several rounds with their service pistols, but the driver got away.

Police later recovered it and confirmed that it had been stolen.

“We know there was more than one person in the vehicle, “ Marks said, adding that an examination gave no indication that anyone had been injured.

“But we don’t know for sure,” Marks said, adding that police are canvassing area hospitals.

The vehicle will undergo a thorough examination by forensic identification personnel.

All three officers were taken to hospital, treated for minor injuries and released.

The incident occurred in the parking lot east of 203 Street, just south of Fraser Highway.

Brianna Bloch was a passenger in the civilian car, and jumped out moments before it was rammed by the stolen vehicle.

Bloch and her boyfriend Brent had driven into the parking lot outside the Fields store when they were cut off by an unmarked police van which then activated its emergency lights.

“We then pulled into a parking space four cars away from a red vehicle,” she recounted for The Times.

“The van then rear-ended the red vehicle (which police confirm was stolen) and cops jumped out surrounding (it). The (driver of the) red car then put it into gear and drove over the curb.

“The way it was angled, I knew he had nowhere else to go but to back into us if he tried to run again. I saw that and acted in a split second. I ran out of the car as fast as I could and as I was running, my brother Chris grabbed me and five gunshots went off.”

Bloch went into a Japanese restaurant, where she and Brent had planned to have dinner, and got down on the floor.

“About three seconds later, I looked out the window and saw my boyfriend lying between the two seats. The car had moved, obviously after being hit by the stolen vehicle.”

Brent was taken to hospital where his back was Xw-rayed.

“He’s in a lot of pain in his back and neck from the impact . . . but we are both OK,” Bloch said.