Man , 23, wanted after car crashes into Welland Canal

Niagara police are searching for a 23-year-old man after a car crashed into the Welland Canal in St. Catharines last week.

Emergency crews were called to the area of Glendale Ave. and Welland Canals Parkway around 2:15 a.m. on Jan. 21.

Police say a blue 2009 Audi was travelling eastbound along Glendale Ave. when it struck a tree and crashed into the canal.

Niagara police say it came to a stop in roughly three-feet of water because that portion of the canal had been drained and lowered a few weeks prior.

Investigators believe there may have been six people inside the car at the time of the crash. All of the passengers were able to get out of the vehicle on their own and the suspected driver fled the scene on foot.

Firefighters had to perform a rope rescue to safely bring a man in his twenties up the side of a snowy hill to an awaiting ORNGE air ambulance. He suffered serious injuries in the crash and was transported to an out of region trauma centre.

The remaining passengers were treated for non-life threatening injuries at a local hospital.

Arron Corey Brown, of no fixed address, is wanted for dangerous operation causing bodily harm and fail to stop resulting in bodily harm.

Police say Brown is known to have close ties to Fort Erie.

Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact Niagara police.

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