B.C.’s civilian police watchdog has cleared Vancouver police of any wrongdoing in a collision involving a fleeing fugitive last spring.
The suspect was arrested with the help of a police dog after crashing a Nissan into a Mercedes and a Ford near the intersection of Quebec Street and East 2nd Avenue on April 5.
According to the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), the incident began just after 8 p.m., when Vancouver police tried to stop the Nissan on Main Street, just south of Terminal Avenue.
The IIO said witness interviews and security video confirmed the suspect did not stop, and made contact with a police vehicle before taking off.
Police did not pursue the suspect.
Not long afterward and just a few blocks away, the Nissan collided with the Mercedes and Ford. The occupants of those vehicles were taken to hospital.
Police caught up with the suspect a short time later, and the IIO said he sustained minor injuries during the arrest.
“The officers appropriately did not pursue the Nissan when it was clear that the driver did not intend to stop, and they therefore are not to blame for the subsequent actions of the Nissan driver,” the IIO said in a media release Wednesday.
Police said at the time of the incident that the suspect was a 29-year-old Surrey man with 10 outstanding Canada-wide warrants, including for firearms and drug trafficking offences.
Vancouver police confirmed the suspect has since died, and as such charges in the case have been abated.
— with files from Sean Boynton
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