A territorial Department Energy, Mines and Resource employee has been arrested following an incident which ended with a government pickup truck with a box of bullets in the passenger seat being locked up at the city's impound yard.

An RCMP spokesperson told the Star Monday police received a call which led to the arrest on Range Road at 5:44 p.m. last Saturday.

'It was a report of a car driving erratically on the Alaska Highway,' the spokesperson said.

'The truck turned off the Alaska Highway onto Wann Road and the whole thing ended outside the Takhini trailer court.'

The incident, the spokesperson added, was not a chase.

'Charges are pending,' the spokesperson said.

The government truck, a silver Dodge Dakota, was taken to the Capital Towing Services yard in the Marwell industrial area.

Photographs taken by the Star on Monday show the vehicle with a box of .22-calibre American Eagle rifle shells in the passenger side.

In the bed of the vehicle were used shell casings and an empty bottle of seven per cent alcoholic cider.

EMR spokesperson Ron Billingham said this morning the driver of the vehicle is an employee of the department who picked up the truck at 11 a.m. last Saturday from the Elijah Smith Building.

Billingham said the employee had picked up the vehicle to work on an electrical panel on Range Road.

After the incident, he said, the employee called his supervisor to inform him of the incident involving the RCMP.

'It was concluded that the employee did not use the vehicle for his business task but used it for personal use,' said Billingham.

'That's a no-no in our world.'

Billingham said department officials in his office believe the employee will have to face any charges laid by the RCMP. The vehicle use infraction will be handled according to EMR vehicle policy.

Billingham said Monday he is not sure why the vehicle would have had an open box of ammunition inside it or spent shell casings in the bed.

'That's not standard issue. They don't keep ammo lying around, they keep it locked up,' he said.

'This chap would not have any reason to have firearms or ammunition whatsoever.'

He said information he originally received was that the vehicle had been pulled over at a routine traffic stop at around noon Saturday. He said he was still looking into the matter.

Billingham said EMR is trying to get the vehicle back.