FILE PHOTO

(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

RCMP officers involved in a tense 2019 chase and arrest in the North Okanagan won't face criminal charges after an investigation by BC's police watchdog.

The arrest came after a chase in which a suspect fired gunshots at pursuing RCMP officers, eventually coming to a stop in a field near Falkland, according to an Independent Investigations Office of BC decision issued today, Nov. 2.

Darwyn Sellars was driving the car and fired the shots at police. More than a year after the chase, his doctor told BC's police watchdog of his injuries, which were found to be more serious than initially thought.

He said he was beaten by at least two officers after exiting the suspect vehicle, a Ford Fusion, taking multiple punches to the back of his head and leaving him with a "potentially serious lasting disability," according to the watchdog report.

The extent of those injuries were not detailed in the report, but IIO chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald found the use of force "within the range of what is legally justifiable." Sellars was identified in criminal court when he was convicted for multiple charges related to the police chase and the events that led to it, but he was not identified in the watchdog report.

Sellars was arrested in December 2019, a day after police were alerted to a home invasion in which he and a female companion stole firearms from a cabin near Merritt.

Sellars was carrying a shotgun when they were spotted inside the cabin, and they left with four firearms, a laptop and some ammunition.

They evaded police until Falkland RCMP were notified of someone stealing fuel from a gas station around 8 a.m., Dec. 3. Officers from both Vernon and Kamloops descended on the area, setting up roadblocks and spike belts.

When two officers encountered Sellars around 8:45 a.m., he pointed a shotgun out the driver's side window during the pursuit, shooting at one of the RCMP vehicles.

He didn't hit the police vehicles, but one officer, who was a passenger, returned fire with a rifle through the windshield of a police vehicle, according to the report.

Police and Sellars continued to return fire until the tires failed on the Ford Fusion he was driving and he came to a stop in a field.

One officer continued to fire a rifle at the car, with witness officers describing bullets ricocheting off its back.

Both Sellars and the woman he was with, Jennifer Singleton, were afraid they'd be shot by police, but she eventually ran from the car before laying on the ground. Sellars got out shortly after, but police described him as "taunting" them, seeming to pretend he was going to reach for another gun at his waist.

Police tossed a "flash bang" at Sellars, then sent a police dog after him for the takedown. Officers quickly followed an handcuffed Sellars in the field.

Civilian witnesses told investigators they saw very little violence during the arrest, while Sellars described it as a "vicious beating." A BC Provincial Court did note he was kicked in the head and punched in the face while officers wrestled to handcuff him.

Sellars was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison for multiple crimes associated with the chase.

While BC's police watchdog cleared officers of criminality, MacDonald noted concern about the one officer who continued to shoot at the car once Sellars came to a stop. Overall, no charges were referred to the BC Prosecution Service and the matter was closed.

— This story was updated at 8:23 a.m., Nov. 3, 2023, to clarify that Darwyn Sellars was identified through BC Provincial Court, not by the Independent Investigations Office of BC.

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