When running from police, he simply found himself in over his head.

A suspect was faced with no escape options when police tracked him down Wednesday night in an in-ground swimming pool in a Southdale back yard, following a chase that began when officers tried to pull over a vehicle carrying alleged gang members downtown.

Street crime unit cops had spotted a Jeep carrying a male passenger wanted on a warrant at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday. Though cops couldn't stop the Jeep, officers later found it in the southeast suburb in front of a home on Clearwater Bay. Two of four males in the SUV were nabbed immediately, while two others were caught following foot chases.

HIDDEN UNDER DECK

One is believed to have hidden under a deck in a nearby yard, while another took refuge in the pool -- drained, for the most part, for the winter.

Const. Jacqueline Chaput noted the pool was an unusual place for a suspect to run.

"When you're trying to get away, desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Who knows what he was thinking when he did that?" she said. "Maybe he thought we wouldn't look in there."

An officer was assaulted with a makeshift weapon as the suspects scattered from the rented SUV, Chaput said.

"A suspect grabbed a stick of sorts, a pole -- I'm not certain what it was -- and struck the officer," she said, noting the officer was not injured.

Amounts of cocaine and cash were recovered by police, along with two handguns and a magazine for ammunition.

MAD COWZ

An alleged high-ranking member of the Mad Cowz gang, Evan Murphy Amyotte, 21, is among the suspects. Amyotte is in custody at Winnipeg Remand Centre, charged with three court order violations, drug trafficking, possessing proceeds of crime, and weapons offences.

Mayen Thomas Madit, 21, is also in custody while facing 26 charges including assault with intent to resist arrest and offences involving drugs and firearms, among others.

A 27-year-old man and 14-year-old boy also face charges for offences involving drugs, criminal proceeds and driving. They were released on promises to appear in court.

"Three of the four are from different gangs," Chaput said of the group driving together "I can't really explain that. Due to the nature of their business, maybe they're starting to work together. It's hard to say why they would be."