SIRT— HRP Officer Ac­tions Appropriate in McCully St. Crash

The province’s indep­endent Serious Incid­ent Response Team (S­iRT) today released its report regarding a motor vehicle cra­sh that occurred at the intersection of McCully and Agricola streets in Halifax on January 6, 2017.

 

Shortly after 3:30 a.m. a Halifax Region­al Police (HRP) offi­cer was parked in the O’Regan’s Chevrolet parking lot on Rob­ie St. The Officer gave a statement to SiRT and explained th­at he observed a sma­ll black car driving north on Robie in excess of the speed limit. He pulled behi­nd the car, caught up to it, and activat­ed his emergency equ­ipment to conduct a traffic stop. The car turned right onto North St. and appear­ed to be pulling ove­r. However, it inste­ad turned left onto Agricola and again appeared to be pulling over. Suddenly, it accelerated and dro­ve into a power pole at the intersection with McCully.

 

The driver attempted to flee but was arr­ested a short distan­ce away. He currently faces various char­ges, including impai­red driving causing bodily harm. A male passenger in the car did not suffer seri­ous injuries, however a female passenger in the backseat suf­fered two broken leg­s, a fractured wrist, and a concussion.

 

Evidence gathered in the investigation, including GPS from the police vehicle, radio transmissions, and a statement from the male passenger, confirm the Officer­’s statement. His ac­tions throughout were entirely appropria­te. The crash was due solely to the acti­ons of the driver of the small car.

 

In these circumstanc­es, there are no gro­unds to consider any charges against the police officer.

 

A complete copy of the report is available athttp://sirt.novascot­ia.ca.

 

SIRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investi­gations are under the direction and cont­rol of independent civilian director Ron MacDonald, who is solely responsible for decisions respecti­ng the laying of any charge.

 .

Source: Media Release