B.C.’s civilian watchdog has cleared Delta police of any wrongdoing in connection to an incident that occurred near the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal on May 29 of this year.
After nearly a seven-month investigation, the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) released its public report on Friday morning into the events of that night when DPD officers were called to investigate the theft of a taxi on the ferry causeway in Tsawwassen.
The suspect in the taxi theft died during the incident, and since his death occurred in connection with the action of police officers, it was investigated independently by the IIO.
In the report, (https://iiobc.ca/app/uploads/sites/472/2020/12/May-29-2020-Delta-Death-2020-108.pdf) the IIO concluded that despite all attempts to save his life, the affected person (AP) died of his own self-inflicted wounds. This conclusion was based on evidence collected from 15 civilian witnesses, video, audio recordings, autopsy reports and more.
The IIO reported that the first responding police officer involved in the incident acted lawfully, in execution of his duty, when he attempted to arrest the suspect for stealing the taxi, among other offences. The suspect was observed by police travelling at a high rate of speed and committed further offences as he approached police, including almost hitting the officer and his vehicle with the stolen taxi. The ‘near miss’ was verified independently by two civilian witnesses.
Witnesses also verified hearing police issue commands such as “get on the ground,” “drop the knife” and “put your weapons away and get on the ground.”
De-escalation attempts continued for over 15 minutes. The IIO determined “it was necessary and appropriate for officers to use force in an effort to get AP to drop the weapons and also to prevent him from inflicting further harm to himself.”
The autopsy reported stated that AP’s cause of death was sharp force, self-inflicted injuries of the neck, damaging carotid arteries and jugular veins. The injuries resulted in a massive hemorrhage and AP’s death. The toxicology report indicated that AP had methamphetamine in his system. There were no other significant conditions that contributed to AP’s death, according to the autopsy report.
“Once officers could move in safely, they did so and administered first aid in an attempt to save AP,” wrote Chief Civilian Director Ron MacDonald in the report. “Accordingly, as the Chief Civilian Director of the IIO, I do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and therefore the matter will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges.”
The IIO report indicates that some witnesses reported hearing what they described as gunshots that night. The IIO determined that no shots were fired by any officers, and the sound that was heard was likely that of a less-lethal 40 mm launcher, that shoots projectile rounds.
DPD Chief Neil Dubord, in a news release, said he wanted to thank the IIO for their diligent and thorough work on this investigation, and the public for their patience, in allowing this work to proceed.
“I also want to express condolences on behalf of the department to the family and loved ones of the man who died in this incident,” said Dubord. “Even though our officer’s actions did not contribute to this man’s death, incidents such as this have a lasting impact on the officers who respond. People get involved in this line of work to help others, and it’s a tragedy when despite all our best efforts, sometimes we’re not able to get some people the help they need.”
