Probe into leaked video finds no criminal conduct
An independent investigation into the leaking of a video provided to the RNC in relation to a fatal motor vehicle collision has concluded there was no criminal conduct.
Mike King, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, Newfoundland and Labrador (SIRT-NL), said Friday the RCMP provided him with the results of its investigation.
SIRT-NL investigates incidents to a criminal standard.
“While the sharing of police evidence with the public is a very serious matter, and may be criminal in some circumstances, this particular incident does not rise to the level of criminal conduct under the law and does not warrant criminal charges,” King stated in a new release.
“Therefore, the matter falls outside SIRT-NL’S mandate.”
SIRT-NL has referred the matter to the RNC Public Complaints Commission for further review.
The video shows footage taken moments before a deadly car crash in St. John’s on May 11, when a black Kia Soul rammed into several vehicles that were stopped at a red light at the intersection of Topsail Road and Hamlyn Road. The Kia Soul driver, Johnny Roberts, 25, was killed, along with 44-year-old Chad Pitcher, who was on a motorcycle.
A short time after the crash, The Telegram spoke to the man who said the footage came from his dash cam, as he remembered seeing the Kia Soul speed past him that evening, and he also recognized his own voice on the video.
“Jesus Christ! Look at the door!” a man is heard saying in the video, a copy of which The Telegram obtained. “He just came through a red light. … He’s going to smack somebody, look! Holy Jesus!” The video then cuts out. The video publicly circulating, including several shares from Facebook Messenger, was taken of a computer screen showing the dash cam video.
The man said it was disturbing to think the video ended up being shared publicly after he handed it directly to police at the scene of the collision, and he wanted to know how it was leaked.
When it was brought to the RNC’S attention, the force requested the independent investigation into the leak of the video. The RCMP was engaged by SIRT-NL to conduct the independent investigation.
In the news release, King pointed out SIRT-NL is a civilian-led oversight agency and once it is fully operational, it will conduct investigations into serious incidents. Serious incidents within this context are those involving serious injury, death, sexual offence, domestic violence or any matter of significant public interest arising from the actions of a police officer in Newfoundland and Labrador.