Alberta RCMP are hunting for an “armed and dangerous” carjacking suspect who evaded a police helicopter on a snowmobile and was last seen wearing white camouflage.
Police have an issued an arrest warrant for Michael Richter and are warning the public not to approach him.
Richter is wanted on numerous charges after a Monday afternoon carjacking on a rural road after a two-vehicle collision in central Alberta.
In a news release Wednesday, Blackfalds RCMP said they got a report around 4 p.m. Monday that an SUV and a pickup truck had collided on Township Road 394 near the hamlet of Haynes, 160 kilometres south of Edmonton.
The SUV couldn’t be driven after the crash.
Its driver “forcefully took the pickup and fled from the collision scene,” police said. The driver of the pickup truck wasn’t hurt in the crash but he suffered injuries in a struggle with the suspect.
The pickup, with two flat tires, travelled north toward Bashaw then west toward Ponoka. It was seen driving onto an oilfield lease site. Police recovered the truck at the site.
At 5:10 p.m., RCMP had the site surrounded. Officers from seven area detachments were involved, including a dog unit, the emergency response team and an RCMP helicopter.
Police later determined the suspect had fled the property on a snowmobile before they had the area contained.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael Richter, 38, who faces charges of robbery, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle and disobeying a court order.
Richter is also wanted on previous arrest warrants out of Ponoka and Red Deer.
He is described as Caucasian, five feet, 10 inches tall, 150 pounds, with a bald head and some facial hair. He has hazel eyes and a small scar on the left side of his chin.
At the time of the incident near Haynes, Richter was wearing white camouflage and carrying a white bag and a rifle, police said.