BC Highway Patrol officer may face charges for South Okanagan crash that sent 2 to hospital

A South Okanagan, B.C., Mountie may face criminal charges for a July 2022 incident that ended in injury.

B.C.’s police watchdog is recommending the BC Prosecution Office pursue charges against an officer involved in a July 10, 2022 crash in Okanagan Falls.

“An officer with the BC Highway Patrol was responding to an unrelated incident when they were involved in a collision with a civilian pickup truck at the intersection of Maple Street and 10th Avenue in the Okanagan Falls area,” the Independent Investigations Office said in a Tuesday statement.

The driver and passenger of the pickup were injured in the crash and sent to a hospital for treatment. At the time, one occupant was said to be suffering serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The IIO was called in to investigate the next day.

Chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald, KC, reviewed the evidence and found that reasonable grounds exist to believe that one officer may have committed a driving offence.

Pursuant to Section 38.11 of the Police Act, MacDonald forwarded a report to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges, though that doesn’t guarantee that charges will be laid.

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There has to be a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO, and a prosecution must be required in the public interest.

The IIO investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.

– A previous version of this story said it was a Penticton Mountie. It was corrected April 19 to reflect that it was a BC Highway Patrol member.