IOC investigating man injured by Vancouver police

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s police watchdog is shedding light on the severe injuries suffered by a man during a deadly encounter with Vancouver police in a court document seeking an order for an officer to be interviewed as a witness.

The injuries are outlined in a petition filed Wednesday by the Independent Investigations Office asking the B.C. Supreme Court to compel the officer to co-operate with its investigation into the death of Myles Gray.

The petition lists the findings of an autopsy describing Gray’s injuries, which include a fractured voice box, dislocated jaw, damaged testicle, broken eye socket and fractured sternum. It says the cause of Gray’s death has not been determined.

It says Gray died Aug. 13, 2015, after eight police officers responded to reports of a distraught man who was described by a caller as “apparently high on drugs and alcohol” and spraying a woman with a hose. The investigations office alleges in its petition that Const. Hardeep Sahota of the Vancouver police has refused to grant investigators a second interview.

“As there were no civilian or independent witnesses to the incident, and given her presence during most of the incident, the interview is essential to the progress of the... investigation,” the document says.