Kamloops cops cleared of wrongdoing in car crash near Chase
No Mounties will be charged after the detachment failed to check on an elderly driver before he attempted a trip from Kamloops to Calgary last fall, according to B.C's police watchdog.
The detachment was warned on Oct. 16, around 8:30 a.m., by someone concerned he would be unable to make the trip. It appears they were right to check because the driver was airlifted from a collision scene near Chase just hours later.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. investigated the incident, but it found no evidence a Kamloops RCMP officer should be charged for causing serious harm, according to a news release issued late yesterday, Jan. 4.
The news release did not name anyone in the incident, only referring to the civilians as the "caller" and the "driver."
Investigators did find, however, officers weren't told about the at-risk driver until 42 minutes after the caller reported him.
The caller told "non-police call-takers" the elderly driver would wait for police to speak with him before leaving for Calgary.
"Operational issues, however, caused a 42-minute delay in dispatching information about the potential inability of the man to drive safely and in sharing that he was waiting to speak to police," the decision reads.
The driver left after 30 minutes, and officers were alerted to be on the lookout for his car instead of being advised to go to the location to speak with the driver.
"A few hours later, he was involved in a collision with an oncoming vehicle on Highway 1 near Chase," the decision reads.
Because officers weren't alerted about the elderly driver until 42 minutes after the call, the collision cannot be the result of actions or inactions of an officer, according to the police watchdog.
The elderly driver was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital after a collision on the Trans-Canada Highway near Chase, around 11:40 a.m.
Occupants of another vehicle also had minor injuries from the collision, but it's not clear how many people were in that vehicle.
The IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in B.C. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
