Nunavut police arrest 18-year-old for dangerous driving in Rankin Inlet

After a teenager in Rankin Inlet raced around the community, eluding police twice, the Nunavut RCMP say they want to remind the public that the safe operation of all motor vehicles is crucial to the safety of the territory’s communities.

These vehicles includes those all-terrain vehicles, which, after the winter, are now coming out onto Nunavut roads.

“Unsafe operation of ATVs is taken seriously and those found driving in a dangerous manner will be charged accordingly,” the RCMP said today.

That reminder from the RCMP comes after an incident this week in Rankin Inlet that involved an ATV and led to the arrest of an 18-year-old boy.

Shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, a member of the Rankin Inlet RCMP detachment attempted to stop an ATV that, it was alleged, was being driven in a dangerous manner, “and the operator did not have a helmet,” said an RCMP news release.

When the lights and siren on the police vehicle came on, the driver fled on the ATV “at a high rate of speed.”

Police say the driver continued driving in a dangerous manner on busy streets in the community of about 3,000.

“Recognizing the danger to the public and the driver, police did not pursue the ATV,” the RCMP said.

A short time later, police located the ATV and driver in another part of town and again the driver fled from police “in a dangerous and careless manner,” the RCMP release said.

The police identified the driver and arrested him “without incident” later that night at his home.

The 18-year-old boy from Rankin Inlet now faces changes under the Criminal Code for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and flight from a peace officer.

The teenager was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled for his first court appearance on Aug. 12 in Rankin Inlet.