Alleged road rage chase ends in crash!

Mounties say a road-raging man in a pickup truck hounded another man in a Pontiac Sunbird for a half-hour Monday night before a final onslaught ended in a spectacular crash near Lake Louise, Alta.

Cpl. Jeff Campbell said the man was on his cellphone with Mounties just as the irate driver in a pickup truck was preparing to rear-end his car 5 km east of Lake Louise at about 10 p.m.

"At that time, the truck backed off and everything was fine but then he came up from behind and rammed him," said Campbell.

The collision sent the Toyota pickup truck onto the centre median and it came to rest on top of the 31-year-old B.C. man's Sunbird.

Before that, Campbell said the pickup driver apparently became enraged because the Sunbird driver blew past him while honking his horn.

The pickup driver then gave chase, swerving all over the Trans-Canada Hwy., Campbell said. The angry driver allegedly attempted to use a driving technique employed by some U.S. police forces to stop fleeing motorists.

"It's not something we use in Canada ... it's to tip the bumper to make the lead vehicle spin out," Campbell said.

After the collision, the pickup driver got out of his truck and leapt down a 7-metre embankment. A passerby with a flashlight stopped and helped track him, and the suspect later surrendered to police, Campbell said. Both drivers suffered minor injuries. The Sunbird driver had to exit his crushed car through its trunk.

Dangerous and impaired driving-related charges are pending against an unidentified 37-year-old Calgary man, police said.

By BILL KAUFMANN, QMI Agency