Police look for help in Iqaluit taxi theft

Five people received treatment at the Qikiqtani General Hospital May 1 for injuries related to a crash between two taxis, one of which was stolen. (FILE PHOTO)

(Updated May 4)

Iqaluit resident Simeonie Salamonie has been charged in connection with a taxi theft and impaired driving incident that sent five people to the hospital over the weekend.

Late May 1, RCMP responded to a call about a head-on motor vehicle collision involving two taxi cabs on Queen Elizabeth II Way near the Nunavut Court of Justice building.

The driver of one taxi and his four passengers were treated in hospital for non-life threatening injuries and later released, police said.

Police later determined that the other taxi involved in the collision had been stolen.

Salamonie, alleged to have been the driver and single passenger of that Pai-Pa cab, is alleged to have stolen the vehicle, which was idling unattended outside the Iqaluit Legion sometime before 11:00 p.m. that evening.

Salamonie appeared at the Nunavut Court of Justice May 4 on charges of impaired driving, motor vehicle theft and one count of assaulting two police officers on duty. He’s scheduled to appear in Iqaluit court again July 6.

RCMP members in Iqaluit continue to investigate the incident, and ask anyone with information to contact police at (867) 979-0123.

with files from Thomas Rohner