Police fire on fleeing car thief Vedder/area Friday May 8th 12:45PM

They say Chilliwack, but we are out further west of downtown Chilliwack.
Vedder/Sardis area.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_va.../44611502.html

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_va...progress/news/

Just down the street from the apartment where Shawna & I live. We live half a block from the Shoppers Drug Mart Parking lot..
May 08, 2009

I did not hear a thing, must be going deaf. Especially with shots being fired..

A woman RCMP say is the fifth most wanted car thief in the Lower Mainland is in hospital after being shot trying to flee police in Chilliwack Friday.

Cassandra Lee Rowell was airlifted to hospital after police fired into her vehicle in a crowded parking lot outside Shoppers Drug Mart on Promontory Road.

Her condition is not known.

Police say the woman, wanted on nine outstanding warrants, rammed a police vehicle after being cornered in the parking lot.

Rowell had been under surveillance in what RCMP Corp. Peter Thiessen described as a "complex investigation."

After the police vehicle was rammed, the stolen GMC Yukon sped off.

Thiessen stressed that police vehicles on the ground were not chasing the SUV. Instead, an RCMP helicopter tracked the vehicle until it stopped on Cumberland Drive, just a few blocks from Twin Rinks.

Rowell was taken into custody, as well as a male traveling with her.

A third male, who may have fled the vehicle in the parking lot, is being sought by police.

Police would not confirm how many shots had been fired; the investigation is continuing.

Woman shot by police in Chilliwack under 24-hour armed guard
A woman shot during an effort by joint police agencies to arrest her remained in hospital Saturday, undergoing surgery for multiple gunshot wounds, an RCMP spokesman said.

Cassandra Rowell, 28, has been remanded in custody and remains under 24-hour armed guard. Police said she is facing charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000 as well as under $5,000.

Other charges include dangerous driving, causing a police pursuit, two counts of driving while prohibited, theft over $5,000 and breach of probation.

Tyler Suel, 23, who was arrested Friday along with Rowell, has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Chilliwack on Monday, RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said.

Suel is charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000 and under $5,000, dangerous driving, causing a police pursuit and driving while prohibited.

Cassandra Rowell, 28, was wanted by police for possession of stolen property, personation and fraud. (Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Team)
Thiessen said the vehicle Rowell was operating when she was cornered by police in Chilliwack was stolen on May 3 from Edmonton International Airport.

Rowell, who was wanted by police on at least nine outstanding warrants, was shot by police Friday after a car chase. Thiessen said Rowell is listed as No. 5 on the Top 10 list of alleged car thieves.

Rowell was spotted by police early Friday afternoon at a parking lot in the Fraser Valley community of Chilliwack. Police tried to make the arrest when she rammed the police vehicles and attempted to flee, Thiessen said. One officer fired at her.

A police aircraft followed the vehicle, which voluntarily pulled over. Police arrested the pair.

The Canadian Press, 2009

I suppose that someone is going to try to make a case against the police for having used deadly force against a mere larceny suspect.

I don't see where they did anything wrong at all. They avoided a street chase, so as not to endanger the public, and tried to apprehend her. She made the choice to escalate things, by ramming two police vehicles, which constitutes assault with a deadly weapon.

If she was smart enough to be able to steal a car, surely she's also smart enough to know that they weren't going to smile and wave bye-bye, at that. She's lucky she's alive.

She stole the SUV from Edmonton Airport, May 3rd >> Cecil should have stopped her..