The province’s civilian oversight agency of police is investigating as a result of a motorcycle crash in Kamloops on Saturday night.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. said it has been notified of the police-involved incident.
The IIO said Kamloops RCMP reported that on Saturday at 8:42 p.m., a Kamloops Mountie saw a motorcycle travelling westbound on Highway 1 in Valleyview at a high rate of speed. The IIO said the officer pulled over the male motorcycle rider.
“It was reported that as the officer exited his vehicle, the male drove off,” the IIO said in a release. “Shortly after, it was reported that the male’s motorcycle hit a centre median and went into oncoming traffic, eastbound on Highway.”
The motorcyclist crashed on the highway, near Comazzetto Road.
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Kamloops firefighters and paramedics responded and tended to the driver, who was taken to Royal Inland Hospital with undetermined injuries. Police traffic analysts shut down the stretch of highway for about six hours until they finished conducting measurements and taking photos at the scene.
Anyone who saw the crash or who may have dashcam footage of the incident is asked to contact the IIO witness line at 1-855-446-8477.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in British Columbia. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
The IIO is currently investigating two other Kamloops RCMP cases: the March 13 death in police cells of a man arrested the day before for creating a disturbance at a downtown business and the Dec. 8, 2018, collision in Westsyde between a pickup truck and an unmarked police vehicle.
The March 13 incident concerned an apparently intoxicated man remaining at a business on March 12 after he was asked to leave. Kamloops Mounties arrived and found the man in a nearby parking lot, where he was arrested under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act and taken to RCMP cells, to be released when he was able to care for himself. However, the man was found unresponsive in his cell at just before 6 a.m. on March 13 and was eventually pronounced deceased.
The Dec. 8, 2018, incident involved a collision at Westsyde Road and Grasslands Boulevard at 12:30 a.m., with the driver of the pickup truck being injured.
The IIO has cleared the RCMP of any wrongdoing in two cases. Police were found to have committed no wrongdoing in connection to the Sept. 14, 2018, death of Eugene Marcano. The 36-year-old was shot and killed after opening fire on officers in a remote area of Rose Hill.
The Kamloops detachment was also cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with the Oct. 20 hit and run death of 48-year-old Frank McDermott. He was struck and killed on Seymour Street downtown, 5.5 hours after being released from RCMP cells. Nine hours before his release, McDermott had been arrested on an alcohol-related matter.
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