Inquinte.ca has been publishing its list of top 10 news stories of the year.

The search for Richard Vader read like something out of a Hollywood script, and fascinated Quinte like no other story in 2017. It was not only the biggest story in the region, but, individually three stories about Vader cracked the top 10 in readership.

Vader’s story started Aug. 22 when Quinte West OPP, along with Repeat Offenders Parole Enforcement Squad spent the afternoon and evening on Wednesday searching the area of Will Johnston Road and County Road 5 looking for him.

The 33-year-old from Quinte West managed to evade capture in Quinte West only to be spotted the next day in Campbellford when he reportedly abandoned a stolen truck behind a business and fled the scene on foot.

The next official word on Vader came when police found another stolen truck abandoned on Avonlough Road in Belleville. It had been spotted on Dundas Street West on Aug. 24 at about 9 p.m.

Police confirmed the truck had been stolen from a property in Stirling-Rawdon at about 2 a.m. that day.

After four days, Vader was finally captured by several OPP units, including a K9 unit and a helicopter, without incident near Wallbridge, east of Frankford.

He was charged with eight counts of assault and five counts failing to comply with a probation order, as well as one count each of uttering a death threat, mischief under $5,000, possession of stolen property under $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

He was also charged in connection with a stolen vehicle in Prince Edward County.

He has a pretrial scheduled for Jan. 19 in Belleville Provincial Court.

The list is based on page views as recorded by Google Analytics for Inquinte.ca. Results may be different for other news organizations.