Police watchdog investigating after man killed by empty police car in northern Quebec

Quebec’s police watchdog is investigating the death of a 58-year-old man who was run over by an empty police cruiser in northern Quebec.

The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) said in a tweet that its eight investigators finished working the scene at 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

The incident occurred Friday night when members of the Kativik Regional Police Force were called with reports of a fight involving several people at a home in Salluit, an Inuit community located near the Hudson Strait.

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According to the BEI’s preliminary account, police arrived to find a severely beaten man being pulled from the residence by his legs.

READ MORE: Northern Quebec police force’s only female Inuit officer beating the odds

Police reportedly left the cruiser to arrest the suspected aggressor but failed to properly park their vehicle, which ran over the man on the ground, according to the BEI.

The victim was taken to hospital but was declared dead soon after.

The BEI is asking any witnesses to come forward via its website.

—With files from Global News’ Shakti Langlois-Ortega