SIRT says arrest of injured escapee appropriate

Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has cleared an RCMP officer involved in the arrest of an escaped prisoner in June.

The independent police watchdog released its findings Tuesday on the incident, in which the escapee suffered a broken wrist when the stolen utility terrain vehicle he was driving was forced off the road.

Kevin Clarke-mcneil was being held at the provincial jail in Pictou County when he escaped on the evening of June 5. The SIRT report said that the next morning, RCMP received several calls about his location, and were told he was driving the off-road vehicle at high speeds and in a dangerous manner on Highway 7.

Police were headed for Sheet Harbour from two counties when one officer spotted the vehicle driving toward him on Highway 7. The officer had to avoid a head-on collision, and turned around and started to follow ClarkeMcneil.

The UTV turned down Macdonald Cove Road to avoid a roadblock. That road looped back to Highway 7, where police had set up a second roadblock as one of the cars from the first road block pursued the UTV. ClarkeMcneil did not slow down as he neared the cars, and the pursuing officer's front bumper hit the the rear of the UTV, causing it to veer into the ditch and roll over. Clarke-mcneil's wrist was pinned under the roll bar.

“In this case the action taken by the officer to stop (Clarke-mcneil) was reasonable and necessary to bring the incident under control,” SIRT wrote in its decision.” It said his actions “were dangerous and posed a threat to public safety, therefore, the officer was justified in using force ...”

Clarke-mcneil has been on remand at the Northeast Correctional Facility since December 2019 on several charges, including attempted murder, unlawful confinement, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and resisting/obstructing a peace officer.