Thirty-year-old Jonathan Leblanc of Delta is due in court Tuesday after police claim he went on a violent, one-man crime spree across three Lower Mainland municipalities, including Richmond.
Leblance is facing charges of robbery and assault with a weapon in relation to an incident at a TD Bank in Vancouver on Sunday.
Police say the spree began around 6:45 p.m. Sunday in Richmond, spread to Vancouver and ended around midnight in Surrey, where a suspect was arrested by RCMP.
Although multiple jurisdictions were involved, the charges will likely be addressed legally in provincial court in Vancouver.
"It's my expectation that, at this point, any matters arising out of the series of incidents alleged will be dealt with out of Vancouver," said Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie, who said prosecutors were still reviewing the file late Monday.
Vancouver police had a man in custody pending a court appearance Tuesday morning.
The suspect has a previous criminal record and faces a host of charges, said Vancouver Police Department spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham.
Fincham said the three jurisdictions involved co-operated in the apprehension of the suspect, who was described as a heavily built Caucasian man in his 30s, about six feet tall.
Fincham would address only the Vancouver aspects of the spree, referring questions about the related incidents to the RCMP.
But he did note: "They were violent crimes."
The crime spree began with a road accident when a speeding black Ford Geo rear-ended a minivan in the vicinity of Highway 91 and Highway 99. As a result of the impact, the minivan was propelled 100 metres down the road and landed on its roof.
The passengers were a family of three, two of whom were taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
The Geo ended up in a ditch, and police say the driver ran to a nearby home in the 4200-block of Deerfield Crescent, where he stole a vehicle after stabbing the owner several times, according to Richmond RCMP Const. Veronica Fox.
"(The victim) answered his door and was stabbed multiple times," said Fox.
A man in his 60s was taken to hospital, where he is in serious but stable condition.
The suspect was next reported in Vancouver, where he was alleged to have robbed and slashed a man at an ATM at Kingsway and Victoria around 7 p.m.
That victim was later treated by paramedics.
The suspect got back in the vehicle he was driving, but was involved in a head-on collision near East 27th Avenue and Victoria Drive.
He left the vehicle and tried to carjack another one occupied by a man, his wife and two children aged seven and 10.
He slashed at the man and woman but was unable to get their vehicle. Both suffered injuries and were treated in hospital before being released.
The suspect ran to a nearby Esso station, where he carjacked another vehicle. The driver was outside his vehicle and tried to fend off the suspect, but was unsuccessful.
The vehicle, a grey Honda Civic, was last seen travelling east on Kingsway.
It was next spotted in north Surrey, where it tried to evade RCMP at University Drive and King George Boulevard, but ran into a curb.
The driver fled, according to RCMP, and even tried to get into a taxi, but was rejected.
He continued on foot and went into a wooded ravine in the 10900-block 132A Street, where he was located by a police service dog and its handler.
None of the alleged crimes has been proven in court.
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