Hit-and-run suspect arrested after dramatic police chase

Police arrested the 31-year-old man wanted in the fatal hit and run that killed a father of two on June 13.

Jonathan Jake Cardinal was taken into custody Monday morning after a foot chase with police.

Police say they received a report of a male passed out in a vehicle in the area of 86th Street and 106th Avenue. When police approached the vehicle, the man who police later identified to be Cardinal fled on foot.

Police later determined the vehicle he was in had been stolen.

Acting Staff Sgt. Scott Carter said Cardinal broke through a glass door of a nearby apartment while running away from police, cutting his arm and scalp in the process.

He essentially dived through the patio door, hence the injuries are to his arm and to his scalp, Carter said.

Cardinal then broke into a second apartment near 90th Street and Jasper Avenue before trying to hide, but was eventually found by a member of the Edmonton Police Canine Unit.

Claire Bennett witnessed part of the police chase.

I saw this guy running really, really hard, very fast, desperately it seemed like, and screaming quite a bit, Bennett said.

Cardinal's arrest a relief, say police

Police said Cardinal was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

EPS would not confirm if Cardinal was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he was arrested, but did say he was carrying a drug suspected to be methamphetamine.

I think were all relieved that hes in custody and no longer poses any threat to the public, said Carter.

Cardinal was wanted on Canada-wide warrants for manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and theft over $5,000.

Adam Groves, 33, was killed June 13 trying to stop a thief from stealing his blue 2006 Dodge Ram truck outside his Rundle Park home. Police were already chasing the suspect when the man stole the vehicle.

Cardinal has no fixed address. He has at least 35 criminal convictions on his record and has spent the past 12 years in and out of jail.

Police said there are several charges pending against Cardinal.

They also said they do not believe ASIRT will be investigating the incident, as Cardinal's injuries sustained in the pursuit were "a result of his actions, not the actions of police."