A B.C. law enforcement watchdog is asking witnesses to come forward after a man was struck by a Vancouver police vehicle in an alley last month. The Independent Investigations Office said the victim was lying on the ground in a laneway off Main Street, between Hastings and Pender streets, on the morning of July 11 when an officer in a marked police vehicle hit him. “The officer stopped and called for assistance,” the IIO said in a news release Wednesday. “Paramedics attended and the man was taken to hospital for assessment and treatment.” The IIO was not notified until weeks later, on Aug. 4, when a member of the public reached out to say an investigation may be warranted due to the man’s injuries. The watchdog is tasked with investigating all officer-involved incidents that result in death or serious harm, as defined under B.C.’s Police Act, regardless of whether there’s an allegation of wrongdoing against law enforcement. Asked about the July 11 collision, the Vancouver Police Department said members did not report the incident because the man’s injuries initially did not appear to be serious. Neither the VPD nor the IIO would confirm who made that assessment about the victim’s condition. IIO media liaison Rachel Graham said that detail will form part of the watchdog’s investigation. The IIO has yet to determine whether the man’s injuries do meet the threshold for serious harm, Graham said. Police spokesperson Const. Megan Lui told CTV News the department was unable to provide further information on the case Thursday—including if police followed up after the man was taken to hospital to confirm the extent of his injuries—due to the IIO’s ongoing work. In an email, Lui confirmed that, generally speaking, there is “no policy requirement at the VPD to check up on someone” to determine how badly they were hurt after being hospitalized in an interaction with police. Department policy does require that police notify the IIO any time an officer-involved incident results in “injury requiring emergency care by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner and transfer to a hospital.” Asked whether the VPD believes that policy was followed in regards to the July 11 collision, Lui said: “As the investigation remains active, we are unable to provide any details at this time.” B.C. Emergency Health Services—which normally provides information to news organizations about patient injuries when people are assessed, treated or transported to hospital by paramedics, including in the midst of active criminal investigations—declined to share any details on the incident when contacted by CTV News, and has not responded to multiple requests for an explanation. “Your questions are best directed to police,” public information officer Brian Twaites said in a brief statement. The IIO asked anyone with information on the collision to reach out using its witness line at 1-855-446-8477 or the contact form on its website.
