B.C.'s independent police watchdog is recommending charges against a Central Saanich Police Service officer who was involved in a vehicle incident with a cyclist in 2024.
On March 14, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. announced they had filed a report with the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges, claiming the officer may have committed an offence in relation to the use of their vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Act.
Around 8 p.m. on May 21, 2024, a man on a bicycle and the officer in a marked police vehicle were driving in the same direction along the 7100-block of Wallace Drive. At the time of the incident the IIO said information provided by the police stated the cyclist was then struck by the police vehicle.
It was later determined the injuries the man sustained do not meet the required threshold for serious harm defined in the Police Act, but the director of police services ordered an IIO investigation "given the circumstances of the incident."
"Upon completion of the investigation, chief civilian director Jessica Berglund reviewed the evidence and determined that reasonable grounds exist to believe that the officer may have committed an offence in relation to the use of their vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Act," noted an IIO news release.
In order to approve any charges, the prosecution service must be satisfied that there is a likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO.
