The Independent Investigations Office has sent a report to the B.C. criminal justice branch regarding a collision this summer between an RCMP vehicle and an all-terrain vehicle that left the passenger with serious injuries.
Whether charges will be laid against the RCMP members involved remains up to the branch's Crown counsel, the IIO said in a statement issued Tuesday. In doing so, it must determine if there is a substantial likelihood of conviction and if a prosecution is in the public interest, the IIO added.
The civilian-based watchdog, which investigates incidents of police-involved death and serious injury, was called in Aug. 11 after RCMP were called to a complaint of an ATV being driven erratically.
According to a brief RCMP press release following the incident, a collision between an RCMP vehicle and a side-by-side ATV occurred at about 3 a.m. on Northwood Pulpmill Road, between Clubhouse and Noranda Roads.
And according to the IIO, the collision sent the ATV over an embankment. The driver sustained minor injuries but the passenger, later identified as Jason Parlby, suffered serious injuries that included a a hairline fracture to a vertebrae in his neck and a crushed vertebrae midway up his back.
In late August, Parlby's mother, Teresa Balatti, said he was using a motorized wheelchair and had a 50-50 chance of walking again.
Neither Balatti nor Parlby could be reached for comment Tuesday.
