'Bad idea': Regina police arrest man after attempting to flee down wrong side of Highway 1

Officers with the Regina Police Service (RPS) took one man into custody after a man tried to flee a traffic stop on the wrong side of the highway. (Courtesy: X/Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan)

A simple traffic stop for an expired license plate on Friday turned into an arrest after police say a man refused to identify himself and tried fleeing down the wrong side of Highway 1.

Officers stopped a vehicle on Highway 1 near Regina on Friday night after their automated license plate reader picked up an expired plate.

According to a Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan post on X, officers witnessed the passenger and the driver switching seats.

“Bad idea,” the post read.

Officers approached the vehicle and asked for identification from both of the occupants.

The woman in the driver’s seat identified herself to officers. The man in the passenger’s seat refused and closed his window, police said.

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Police told the man he was under arrest — leading the man to tell the woman to drive away.

This led officers to smash out the passenger side window of the vehicle and the woman to jump out of the vehicle.

The man then got back into the driver’s seat and drove away in a “big hurry,” police said.

The suspect smashed into a police cruiser at the scene and began driving the wrong way down Highway 1.

In the process of attempting to flee from police, the suspect drove through a field before getting stuck in a ditch.

The man was arrested and charged with five counts, including resisting arrest, obstruction, dangerous operation of a vehicle, flight from police, and driving while prohibited.