An officer whose actions were investigated following a crash that injured a teenager last month has been cleared by the province's police watchdog.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. was called to investigate after a 17-year-old was injured on the Trans-Canada Highway on Feb. 5.
Mounties said the teen was speeding in a westbound HOV lane in Coquitlam when he was pulled over. The boy allegedly got out of the car, ran across Highway 1 and was struck by an eastbound vehicle.
In a report released Monday, the IIO said it found no wrongdoing by police.
The IIO included further details on the traffic stop that were not previously released by Mounties, including that the teen had been told his vehicle would be impounded and that his licence would be suspended. The officer who had pulled the teen over said he was also issuing three tickets for violations of the Motor Vehicle Act.
The Mountie returned to his vehicle to complete the paper work.
A passenger who'd been in the vehicle with the teen told the IIO she saw him looking out his window into oncoming traffic and that he was upset. She said she tried to stop him by holding his arm and talking to him. She thought about honking the horn to alert the police officer, but decided against it.
As the officer was arranging to have the vehicle towed, the teen driver got out of the vehicle, jumped over the concrete lane barrier and was struck by an oncoming car.
The IIO said the officer took steps to stop traffic to protect the teen, and provided assistance while waiting for an ambulance. The teen was taken to hospital in critical but non-life-threatening condition.
The entire incident was captured on a dashboard camera in the police cruiser, and the officer's audio was recorded. In the recording, it was difficult to hear what the teen was saying.
However, the IIO said the audio showed the officer was professional during the initial stop and caring in his attempts to comfort the teen while waiting for paramedics.
The watchdog conducted an investigation into the officer's actions using statements from witnesses, photographs from the scene, audio and visual recording, police records and the teen's medical information.
Ultimately, it found that the officer acted in the usual course of duty, and that there was no evidence that he committed any offence.
"Indeed, Officer 1 acted at some risk to himself when he took steps to stop traffic and protect (the teen) as he lay injured on the roadway. He met all his duties as a police officer fully and completely," the report concluded.
