CALGARY — Two police officers did nothing wrong before a crash that killed three people, Alberta's police watchdog said in its report released Friday.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team report said the collision in Calgary led to the deaths of a man and woman "who were engaged to be married and had been out for a walk" on the evening of Dec. 12, 2020.
The impaired driver of the vehicle that hit the pedestrians also died, said the ASIRT report.
Police received several calls from people concerned about a vehicle travelling erratically and two officers started to follow the vehicle when they found it, ASIRT said.
The vehicle sped away after officers turned on the cruiser's emergency lights in an attempt to pull over the driver. The officers remained on the side of the road to provide radio communication about the vehicle, then continued in the same direction at a normal rate of speed, the agency said.
"The CPS officers activated their emergency lights and took control over what they quickly realized was a collision scene," said the ASIRT report.
"They noted that the vehicle they had previously attempted to pull over was on its side near a storm drain and that two civilians were deceased at the scene with the driver of the vehicle still in the driver's seat but unresponsive."
The report said the driver of the vehicle died in hospital a few days later.
"At the time of the collision, his blood alcohol level was determined to be four times the legal driving limit," said the report.
The report said ASIRT's role was to examine the actions of the two police officers who tried to conduct the traffic stop and determine whether they had any fault in the crash.
"After examining all of the evidence in this investigation, it is clear that the two CPS officers not only have no blame whatsoever for what occurred, but their actions prior to the fatal collision should be commended," said the report.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023.
The Canadian Press
