A Vancouver police officer “played no role” in a civilian’s death from a vehicle crash in Burnaby last month, the province’s police watchdog has found.
According to the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO), the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado ran a red light at Clark Drive and East Hastings Street around 5 a.m. on July 19.
That’s when a police officer made a U-turn to follow the truck.
The officer did not attempt to stop it, however; it followed the Silverado slowly at a distance, without its lights on, and alerted other officers to its location, the IIO said in a Tuesday news release.
The driver sped toward Burnaby, reaching Willingdon Avenue and East Hastings Street, where it was involved in a collision with a Toyota Supra whose passenger was killed.
The drivers of both vehicles were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Get daily National news
After reviewing the footage, photos and police records, the IIO determined that the officer’s actions did not influence the driver’s behaviour, and therefore “did not play a role in the subsequent collision, nor the tragic death and injuries that followed.”
“Given the recklessness exhibited by the driver of the Silverado, the officer appropriately determined that a pursuit could be unsafe and did not attempt it,” the IIO wrote.
In the immediate aftermath of the fatal crash, the IIO had also said the Silverado was involved in a previous collision that night at West Hastings and Abbott Streets in Vancouver.
— With files from Simon Little
Comments