B.C.’s police watchdog says it has found no wrongdoing in the actions of a Kamloops Mountie who tried to pull over a speeding motorcycle moments before a fatal collision last fall.
Donavin Akerley died on Sept. 26 when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a pickup truck in the intersection of Highway 1 and Highland Road.
Akerley had been headed east on the highway and the pickup truck was turning left from Highland Road. Witnesses said Akerley ran a red light and hit the truck.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) probed the crash because witnesses reported seeing a police vehicle attempt to pull the motorcycle over prior to the collision.
IIO investigators determined an off-duty Mountie heading home in a police vehicle briefly turned on his flashing lights when the motorcycle sped past his vehicle, but did not engage in a pursuit.
While the IIO report found no wrongdoing, it did note some potentially evasive behaviour on the part of the Mountie, who is not named.
The report describes the officer failing to mention on his police radio or to fellow Mounties that he’d activated his emergency lights when the motorcycle sped past him. Witnesses also said they were told by the officer to "go home" when they asked about providing a statement.
In addition, the officer was late filing a report about the incident and refused to make his notes available to IIO investigators.
The IIO concluded the Mountie "lit his emergency lights for a brief time in an unsuccessful attempt to" stop the motorcycle, then proceeded driving in a normal, safe manner.
