A man who police say was driving a stolen pickup truck left a trail of damaged vehicles and shaken witnesses in Ottawa's Alta Vista neighbourhood on Wednesday before he was arrested about six kilometres away.

Batool Hussein was driving near the intersection of Bank Street and Johnston Road when she saw an orange pickup truck approaching quickly from behind. She said the driver attempted to squeeze between northbound and southbound traffic, ramming into her car.

When the driver refused to stop, Hussein said she followed, honking her horn and trying to get a picture of the truck's licence plate.

"My adrenaline kicked in so bad, I had to follow him. Because if I stop, he's taking off, no witnesses," she said.

Hussein said an off-duty police officer noticed what was going on and began tailing the pickup. Other police cars joined the chase, eventually cornering the truck around 11:40 a.m. behind an apartment building on Rockingham Avenue in Alta Vista.

<a href="https://twitter.com/Ottawa_Traffic">@Ottawa_Traffic</a> hey- what's going on??? Almost got hit by a orange runaway truck! Full police chase on now! <a href="https://t.co/8yKE1eaYdx">pic.twitter.com/8yKE1eaYdx</a> —@theresaeellwood

'I thought it was a nightmare'

Kait Shannon and Hayden Murphy were awakened by crashing sounds outside their first-floor apartment window at 1166 Rockingham Ave.

"I thought it was a nightmare. It felt like one," Shannon said. "We just heard all this smashing back and forth. It was like this guy was playing ping pong between the car and the building. It was crazy."

Murphy said he saw a police officer trying to pull the driver from the truck, then back away as the driver made his escape, smashing into parked cars and the building's basement laundry room window.

Resident Ryan Burt said he watched as the truck slammed into a black police SUV that had blocked its exit.

"The truck threw it into reverse, backed into the police vehicle, and then the police came out of the vehicle, telling him to stop, put the vehicle off," Burt said.

"And then the guy threw it into drive, then he [came] up over the grass," Burt said.

Officer's gun drawn, witness said

Another witness, Kevin Sawatsky, said the police officer in the black SUV had his gun drawn when he ordered the driver out of the truck.

"He was shouting, 'Get out of the vehicle! Get out of the vehicle!'" Sawatsky said, before the pickup truck jumped a curb and sped away through an adjacent parking lot, with the police SUV in close pursuit.

Residents say at least half a dozen other police vehicles joined the chase at that point.

"Six or seven cop cars must have shot by" on Rockingham Avenue, Shannon said. "It was a high-speed, intense chase."

Ottawa police take statements from witnesses after a stolen truck crashed into several vehicles on Wednesday. (Stu Mills/CBC)

The truck was eventually found abandoned near the intersection of St. Laurent Boulevard and Lancaster Road, close to the Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre, about a 10-minute drive northeast of Rockingham Avenue, Ottawa police Const. Marc Soucy said.

The suspect was arrested nearby at about 12:40 p.m.

Cornwall police said the pickup truck was reported stolen from a residential area of Cornwall, and described the vehicle as a "company truck."

Soucy said Cornwall police were able to track the vehicle because of its GPS. He said that information was sent to Ottawa police and officers converged on the area where the vehicle was supposed to be travelling.

"Every time he'd spot a cruiser or see a cruiser approaching him, he'd do whatever he can to evade that police car — either pushing another car aside or going through an intersection or red light," Const. Soucy said.

Ottawa police say they aren't releasing details on the suspect's identity, pending charges.

They say no police vehicles were damaged in the pursuit. Police are still assessing the damage to property and are asking any witnesses to call investigators at 613-236-1222, ext. 3566, or phone Crime Stoppers at 613-233- 8477 (TIPS); toll free at 1-800-222-8477.

There have been no reports of injuries.