Cab driver helps Mounties apprehend high-risk sex offender under Canada-wide warrant
Posted September 27, 2020 1:35 pm.
Last Updated September 27, 2020 2:29 pm.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) — Thanks to the help of a taxi driver, Mounties were able to apprehend a high-risk sex offender who was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant.
On Friday, 56-year-old Scott Jones was declared unlawfully at large and on Sunday West Shore RCMP posted on Twitter that they had caught him.
@WestshoreRCMP frontline officer caught high risk dangerous sex offender Scott Jones this morning with the help of a taxi driver. The driver was asked by Jones to purchase clothing for him as he was wanted by police. Read the whole story here https://t.co/vo9zDQnJIA @vicpdcanada
— West Shore RCMP (@WestshoreRCMP) September 27, 2020
Jones has a history of violent sex offences, convicted of rape, attempted rape and gross indecency in incidents involving three girls in the early 1980s.
According to a statement, around 9:20 a.m. Sunday, the West Shore RCMP received a report from Mohammed Rashead a taxi driver with Blue Bird Taxi, about suspicious activity at a Superstore.
“He had been given money by a male suspect, identified by police as Scott Jones, who asked Mr. Rashead to go inside the store and purchase clothing for him. Jones told Mr. Rashead that he could not go inside the store himself as police were looking for him,” a release reads.
“Mr. Rashead left Jones inside his taxi cab went into Superstore and called police right away.”
Once Mounties made it to the scene, they recognized Jones from the alert issued by the Victoria Police Department.
“Upon approaching the cab Jones noticed Cst. Massey and barricaded himself inside the vehicle. Jones began trying to light the interior upholstery of the cab on fire that’s when Cst. Massey smashed the window of the cab and arrested Jones.”
Apart from being unlawfully at large, Mounties arrested Jones for mischief due to the damage caused by the fire to the inside of the cab.
After Jones was caught, Rashead told Mounties, “I did my duty as a citizen and am happy I helped the RCMP catch such a dangerous man.”
No one was injured in this incident.
Jones has since been transferred into Victoria Police custody.
