Police actions during collision being investigated

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is investigating the actions of Saanich police after a serious injury collision on McKenzie Avenue last month.

The civilian-led police oversight agency, responsible for conducting investigations into incidents of death or serious harm that may have been the result of the actions of a police officer, has not issued a statement on the case.

However, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday that the agency is investigating an incident in Saanich on May 28.

Saanich police issued a media release that day stating they had arrested a 38-year-old driver who refused to pull over for a traffic stop, sped off and was involved in a crash minutes later.

Police said the incident began at 4:40 p.m. when an officer with the Integrated Road Safety Unit was doing traffic enforcement at McKenzie Avenue at Borden Street. When the officer motioned the driver of a black Mercedes SUV to pull into the parking lot, the driver suddenly accelerated and sped off, heading west on McKenzie Avenue.

A few minutes later, a Saanich officer came across a collision involving the black Mercedes SUV on McKenzie Avenue at Rainbow Street. The driver of the second vehicle was seriously injured.

Witnesses told police the driver of the SUV had run into Rainbow Park.

Officers found a suspect in the park and arrested him.

The man is facing charges of dangerous driving, failing to provide a breath sample, flight from police, driving while prohibited, failing to remain at the scene of an accident and failing to stop for a red light at an intersection.

Traffic in the east lanes of McKenzie was shut down for four hours while police investigated the collision.

At the time, Saanich police asked drivers who had been in the area to check their dashcam videos in case they had captured anything related to the collision.