British Columbia’s police oversight agency is investigating an incident that happened last month, when a Vancouver Police Department vehicle struck a pedestrian.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. said a VPD officer responding to an incident “was involved in a collision with a female pedestrian” in the 1600 block of Commercial Drive.
“At the time, it is reported that the woman declined assistance from Emergency Health Services, and sought medical treatment independently,” the IIO wrote.
While the incident occurred around 9:10 p.m. on September 29, the VPD notified the IIO on Monday. Police told the office that the injuries the woman sustained in the collision could meet the threshold of serious harm under the Police Act.
The act defines serious harm as “injury that may result in death, may cause serious disfigurement or may cause substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any limb or organ.”
The IIO—which investigates any police-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, regardless of whether there is allegation of wrongdoing—said initial steps will be to confirm the details of the collision and the woman’s injury.
Anyone with information or video of the incident is asked to call the IIO at 1-855-446-8477.
