DRUMHELLER – A Regina man who took police on a cross-border chase that resulted in a large-scale manhunt remains in custody. Jeffrey Thomas McLean, 41, is back in an Alberta court Friday.
McLean was arrested on April 21 after an extensive manhunt involving multiple RCMP detachments, Police Dog Services, and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems. The two-day search ended after Oyen RCMP received tips from concerned residents in the small community of Esther, about 39 kilometres east of Oyen. Witnesses reported seeing a man matching McLean’s description in the area.
McLean was taken into custody and appeared before a justice of the peace before being remanded. He made his first court appearance at the Alberta Court of Justice in Hanna on April 23 where he was remanded in custody. He appeared again in court in Alberta Court of Justice in Drumheller on May 23.
He is charged with flight from police, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, driving while prohibited, driving without a license, driving without registration, driving without insurance, and displaying an unauthorized license plate.
The manhunt had started on April 20 when Kindersley, Sask., RCMP alerted Oyen, Alta., detachment about a stolen Ford F350 that had fled into Alberta. Officers from Oyen soon spotted the truck on Township Road 310, but the driver evaded police, driving through a field before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot.
