A New Westminster man is facing seven charges after he allegedly drove recklessly, then assaulted and tried to disarm police officers, according to North Vancouver RCMP.
At around 9 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 23), RCMP said the detachment received several reports about an erratic driver on Highway 1 westbound near Mountain Highway.
Officers located the vehicle, a red Dodge Caravan, near East 13th Street and St. Georges Avenue, North Van RCMP said in a release. Mounties tried to conduct a traffic stop but the driver failed to pull over and continued driving.
Due to increased public safety concerns, officers did not pursue the vehicle, police said.
The vehicle was later found near Lonsdale Avenue and West 22nd Street, where the driver crashed into the sidewalk. After crashing, the driver allegedly fled on foot and police pursued him. The driver resisted arrest and assaulted police, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesperson for North Vancouver RCMP. The suspect also allegedly tried to disarm a police officer.
A Mountie who was assaulted required a stitch to his lip, Sahak said. That officer was taken to hospital and later released.
The BC Prosecution Service charged Benjamin Orion Carlson Kohlman, who is 45 years old and lives in New Westminster, with seven charges on Friday evening. He was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from a peace officer, failure to stop at a scene of an accident, resisting or obstructing a police officer, disarming a police officer and two counts of assaulting a police officer.
Intoxication is not believed to be a factor in the incident, and the suspect is known to police, Sahak said.
At a bail hearing Monday evening, Kohlman consented to remaining in custody until his next court appearance on Sept. 9.
Sahak said the investigation is still ongoing, and officers are looking to speak with anyone who was in the area of Highway 1 and Mountain Highway, East Keith Road at Queensbury Avenue, East 13th Street and St. Georges Avenue and may have witnessed anything on Friday evening.
Investigators are specifically looking to speak to anyone who has dash cam or CCTV footage that may have captured the vehicle driving erratically, Sahak said.
The vehicle is a red 2008 Dodge Caravan, he said. Anyone with information or video footage is asked to call North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 and quote file number 24-17214.
None of the above charges have been proven in court.
In 2021, Kohlman was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to three arson charges. Two of the arsons happened in North Vancouver, at the Freemasons’ Lynn Valley Lodge on Lynn Valley Road and Capilano Lodge on Lonsdale Avenue. The other was the Park Lodge Hall on Rupert Street in East Vancouver.
