B.C. police watchdog investigating crash that sent driver to hospital

A crew from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is seen in this file photo from the office's website. (iiobc.ca)

British Columba’s police watchdog is investigating after a Mountie in an unmarked SUV struck another vehicle and did not stop, later returning to the scene of the crash that sent the other driver to hospital.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. says the officer was responding to a call in Courtenay on April 29.

“While driving, the officer was involved in a collision with an unrelated vehicle near the intersection of Piercy Avenue and 26th Street,” the IIO said in a news release Sunday.

The police oversight agency says the officer reportedly left the scene and continued to the initial call, later returning to the collision scene and speaking with the man who had been driving the other vehicle.

“The man was later taken by ambulance to the hospital for assessment,” the IIO said.

The agency says it was notified of the incident three days later, on May 2.

Investigators are now working to determine whether the other driver’s injuries meet the threshold of serious harm under the provincial Police Act, and whether there is a connection between those injuries and the actions or inactions of the officer.

Serious harm is defined in the legislation as “an injury that may result in death, may cause serious disfigurement or may cause substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any limb or organ.”

The IIO investigates all police-related incidents that result in serious harm or death in B.C., whether or not there are any allegations of wrongdoing on the part of officers.

If a connection is found between police action or inaction and the other driver’s injuries, the IIO’s chief civilian director will determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe the officer has committed a criminal offence.