Saskatchewan police watchdog clears RCMP officer of wrongdoing in fatal collision

An RCMP cruiser can be seen in this file photo.

Saskatchewan’s civilian police watchdog has cleared an RCMP officer of any criminal wrongdoing in the death of a man who was struck by a police cruiser near Buffalo Narrows.

The 31-year-old man from Clearwater River Dene Nation was declared dead at the scene after being hit by a Buffalo Narrows RCMP cruiser just after 3:30 a.m. on August 29, 2024.

At the time, the RCMP said officers were returning to Buffalo Narrows from a domestic disturbance call in nearby Turnor Lake, travelling south down Highway 909 when the man was struck.

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) says after leaving Turnor Lake that morning, police received two reports of a man laying on the roadway, with one stating he had been struck by a vehicle, and they were heading down the gravel Highway 909 to locate him.

In its final report released Thursday, SIRT said its investigators determined the man later struck by the police cruiser was not the subject of those calls, but a different man laying on the same highway, on the same morning.

According to SIRT investigators, the weather conditions would have made it difficult for police to see a 31-year-old man dressed in black laying on the grid road that morning, with reduced visibility from intermittent periods of dense fog.

The video camera on the RCMP cruiser that struck the man wasn’t working at the time of the incident, SIRT says, but Environment Canada data and video from other RCMP vehicles that evening were used to confirm the visibility conditions.

Despite the foggy conditions, investigators say the officer was exceeding the speed limit as she drove to locate a man she believed had already been struck by a vehicle.

With her emergency lights on, she travelled down Highway 909 at speeds between 80 to 150 kilometres per hour, “depending on the visibility,” says SIRT.

The man she hit had been a passenger in a black truck stopped by police earlier that evening, just one kilometre away from the scene of his death.

The truck and its five occupants had left a bar in La Loche just before 1 a.m. and SIRT’s report says the 31-year-old victim “appeared unsteady on his feet when entering the vehicle,” but doesn’t disclose if that’s based on witness testimony or surveillance footage from outside the bar, or some other source.

SIRT says the victim fled from the truck on foot during the traffic stop, but officers didn’t pursue him because they suspected the driver was intoxicated and the 31-year-old was not being detained when he fled.

After the RCMP officers left the scene of the traffic stop, SIRT says a driver was flagged down on Highway 909 by a man dressed in black, believed to be the victim.

“The driver of the vehicle reported that he almost hit the male due to the fog, and that the male was wearing all-black clothing,” SIRT said in its report.

“The vehicle stopped, reversed, and let the affected person into the back seat. The vehicle’s driver described the affected person as intoxicated and difficult. He indicated that as the vehicle was driving southbound, the affected person attempted to open the door while the vehicle was in motion, and after travelling for approximately ten minutes, they stopped and the affected person left the vehicle.”

It’s not known how or why the man ended up laying supine in the roadway when he was hit, and SIRT investigators ruled there was no basis for criminal charges against the officer who inadvertently drove over him.

“At the time when the affected person was struck on the highway, the Subject Officer was responding to an unrelated call where an individual had already been struck by a vehicle. That call required an urgent response and unquestionably justified the use of emergency equipment and speeds that exceeded the posted speed limit,” SIRT said.

“The affected person’s presence on the highway, lying in the lane of travel while dressed in black, presented an unforeseen event that resulted in an unavoidable and tragic collision.”