RCMP officers cleared in fatal crash

Report rules pursuit was halted at the appropriate time

RCMP members involved in a high-speed chase that ultimately involved a fatal car crash in East Mountain have been cleared of any wrongdoing by the province’s independent Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT).

The single- vehicle crash on Pictou Road claimed the life of a 59-year-old Moncton, N.B., man just before midnight on March 3.

“The investigation concluded that the police had terminated the pursuit well in advance of the crash and therefore were not a factor in the crash,” SIRT director Felix Cacchione said, in a recent news release.

“The investigation also concluded that the officer’s actions were appropriate in the circumstances and there are no grounds to consider charges in the matter.”

The chase began shortly before 11 p.m. in Lower Sackville after police received a complaint about a possible impaired driver, the release said. Officers in the area spotted the vehicle on Hwy 102 heading north and tried to pull the driver over. However, he took off at a high rate of speed and two officers, one from Lower Sackville, the other from Cole Harbour, initiated a pursuit in Fall River which continued toward Enfield.

Once in Enfield, an officer from Enfield and one from Colchester County took over the pursuit. Spike belts were deployed in an attempt to stop the fleeing vehicle but were unsuccessful.

The pursuit continued to Truro where the suspect vehicle took the exit to Hwy 104 and headed east toward New Glasgow. The suspect vehicle took exit 18A and started to head back toward Truro on Hwy 4.

Once the fleeing vehicle left the 100 series highway, officers followed their instructions and terminated the pursuit at 11:42 p.m.

Eleven minutes later, at 11:53 PM, a caller to 911 reported a vehicle had just left the road and crashed into a tree. Officers arrived at the accident scene eight minutes later at 1 a.m.

“It was apparent that the lone occupant in the vehicle was deceased and that it was the same vehicle that was involved in the pursuit earlier,” the release said.

The full report is available at http://sirt.novascotia.ca .