Courtice driver charged with towing stolen trailer in stolen car, fleeing police

A driver from Courtice faces several charges after he was stopped while towing a stolen trailer.

According to the OPP, patrolling officers spotted a car towing a trailer without a light shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 6.  The car headed down Wesleyville Road just west of Port Hope.

The officers tried to pull the car over but it sped off toward the south. They later found the car crashed into an overpass at the intersection of Lakeshore Road and Baulch Road in the southwest corner of town.

They saw the driver run from the car and into a nearby privately owned field. No one else was involved in the crash. The officers investigated the car and learned it had previously been reported missing from Whitby.

The OPP search the area but were unable to find the driver. They told the Durham Region and Port Hope police services of the crash to keep them in the loop. Early the next day the Port Hope Police called the OPP to let them know they’d identified a suspect.

They arrested Mitchell Duncan, 29 of Courtice, with several offences including:

• possession of stolen property over $5,000
• fleeing peace officer
• dangerous driving
• failure to stop after accident
• failure to report damage to fence bordering a highway
• stunt driving (one of Ontario’s harshest driving laws)
• towing a trailer with no plate
• no red light on rear of trailer
• entering premises when entry prohibited

Duncan will later appear in a Cobourg courtroom to answer to these charges.