Second day of Eaglechief inquest hears from police officers

The second day of the coroner’s inquest into the death of Austin Eaglechief in a police chase saw emotional testimony from the police officers involved.

Const. Allisha Stewart told the inquest her patrol car was rammed by the truck that Eaglechief was driving. She said she had to dive into her car for protection, that she received a severe concussion — among other injuries — and that she’s since needed multiple surgeries.

She said her first words after being in the car that was hit were “he tried to kill me.”

She was testifying before lawyer Tim Hawryluk serving as coroner, the coroner’s office legal counsel, legal counsel for the Saskatoon Police Service, lawyers for the family of Eaglechief and a jury. She was among the police officers, several of whom needed to pause because they were overcome with emotion, who spoke.

She was explaining how her police car was hit when the Saskatoon police attempted to arrest Eaglechief on June 19, 2017, in a cul-de-sac on Clearwater Road.

The police spotted and followed a truck they knew to be stolen. Video taken from a police observation plane and viewed during the inquest showed three police cars approaching the truck Eaglechief was in while parked in a driveway on Clearwater Road.

Officers exited their cars before the large, black pickup truck reversed at high speed into the police car behind it. An officer — Stewart’s partner, who said he thought “Const. Stewart was run over and dead” — fired twice at the truck after it struck the police car. He said he found out later that he did not hit the driver, later identified as Eaglechief.

The car into which Stewart dove, the inquest heard, was pushed back approximately 100 metres as the truck left the cul-de-sac.

The police chased the truck, with Eaglechief and another passenger in it, north on Circle Drive until it hit another vehicle. Eaglechief was pronounced dead at the scene.

The officers were first examined by legal counsel for the coroner’s office and then by lawyers representing the Eaglechief family.

The exchanges and cross-examinations became heated, with the coroner once clearing the court to address the lawyers in private.

The questions from Eleanore Sunchild, one of the family’s lawyers, were focused on the decisions made by the police as they approached the truck. The police counsel, Bruce Wirth, referred to the questions as “nitpicking.”

Sunchild asked Sgt. Richard Bueckert, the officer in charge of the approach at Clearwater Road, if another method could have been taken.

Bueckert said the approach, known as a “high-risk traffic stop,” was the best option available. He referred to the Chevy Silverado pickup truck, which had been modified with raised suspension and extra-large wheels, as “a huge weapon.”

The inquest continues on Wednesday with the passengers in the truck scheduled to speak.