Pair arrested after separate crashes, assault with a weapon near Victoria

The Sooke RCMP are urging the public to avoid the area for "an ongoing police incident," according to a statement on the local detachment's website. (CTV News)

Mounties arrested a man and a woman on Vancouver Island after a pair of motor vehicle crashes and a reported assault on a security guard early Friday morning.

The string of incidents began in the early hours when the Sooke RCMP responded to Beecher Bay, west of Victoria, for a single-vehicle crash.

Officers located an injured woman who they believe was a passenger in the crashed vehicle. Police learned the male driver had fled the scene prior to their arrival, the RCMP said in a news release.

While investigating the crash, officers received a report that a security guard had been attacked by a man who also stole the guard's truck.

Officers patrolled the area along East Sooke Road between Rocky Point and Sutiacum roads and found the stolen truck had crashed down an embankment.

A man who is believed to have crashed the first vehicle before stealing and crashing the truck was arrested for theft of a vehicle and assault with a weapon, the RCMP said.

Meanwhile, officers at the first collision learned that "an explosive device associated to the woman was present" at the scene, the Sooke RCMP said.

"Due to the unknown nature of that explosive device, Sooke RCMP contacted the RCMP explosive disposal unit for their assistance and the safe removal of that device."

East Sooke Road was closed to all traffic for several hours as Mounties urged the public to avoid the area due to "an ongoing police incident."

A police dog unit was also at the scene combing through the bushes near the second crash scene.

Both crashed vehicles were towed from the scenes and seized for forensic analysis.

The man and woman remain in police custody as the investigation continues.

The road reopened to traffic in both directions shortly after 10 a.m.