If the shoes won't fit — surrender

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Losing one shoe running away from police was bad.

But losing both shoes while fleeing toward mountains on a cold winter night was enough for a Kamloops man.

A Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP officer was patrolling Highway 97 near Monte Lake on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 11 p.m. when he noticed a vehicle driving north at a high rate of speed.

When the vehicle crossed the centre line, the officer stopped the vehicle three kilometres shy of the Barnhartvale Road turnoff.

As the officer got out of the car, he noticed the driver put both hands outside his vehicle.

“The officer asked what he was doing and the driver said the vehicle was stolen,” RCMP spokesman Gord Molendyk said.

The man was placed under arrest and he got out of the vehicle. The officer noticed a woman in the passenger seat and told her to also get out of the vehicle.

As she did that, the driver stood up and ran away, into a nearby field on the east side of the highway.

“In his attempt to flee, the suspect lost his shoe while running away,” Molendyk said.

A police tracking dog and handler from Kamloops were called to search for the man.

A 32-year-old Kamloops man was then arrested about 250 yards away.

By this time, he had lost both shoes while trying to run for freedom.

“He was cold and he wanted to give up,” Molendyk said. “He had hoped to run into the mountains in an attempt to evade arrest. After he lost his shoes, and with his light clothing he was wearing, he felt it was not in his best interests to do that.”

The man is expected to face charges of possession of stolen property, obstruction and flight from police.

The woman in the passenger seat, a 29-year-old from Kamloops, was arrested for possession of stolen property.

The vehicle, an Alberta model, was stolen from Kelowna.