A Prince George Mountie acted lawfully when he chased after a man in response to reports of someone banging on doors in an apartment building in March, the Independent Investigations Office has concluded.
During the pursuit, which began after RCMP were called to an Upland Street apartment at shortly after midnight on March 8, the man jumped and fell into a ravine, seriously injuring himself.
"All he did was order the person to stop. When he didn't stop, he chased him," said IIO chief civilian director Richard Rosenthal. "There is no reason to believe there was any contact between the RCMP officer and our affected person."
The officer reported then that he was out on foot behind the apartment building when "the guy decided to take a great big leap off the hill there."
He had apparently gotten within grabbing distance of the man, but then he saw the nearby ravine.
"I brought my hand back," he told investigators. "I never actually touched him at all because I didn't want to get dragged down the embankment with him. Because he was in full flight and he jumped off the embankment...he didn't run like he was trying to keep on solid ground, he jumped."
The IIO report said investigators also interviewed the man while he was being treated in the hospital. He said he remembered nothing except that he had been drinking with friends before then and then woke up in the hospital with his injuries.
Details on the man's injuries were not provided in the report. RCMP had been called to a report of a man banging on doors at the apartment, according to the report.
Earlier this month, the IIO also cleared RCMP officers of any offence in the shooting death of Greg Matters, a former Canadian military peacekeeping during a confrontation at his property outside Prince George.
On the same day the IIO's findings on that incident were released, RCMP Public Complaints Commission interim chair Ian McPhail said he will look at whether the RCMP's response was in accordance with "all appropriate training, policies, procedures, guidelines and statutory requirements" and whether those policies were adequate."
As well, Rosenthal said the IIO's file will be forwarded to the Commission.
The IIO investigates incidents of police-involved death or serious injury for any criminal wrongdoing. The office currently has 21 cases under its jurisdiction, four of which are pending cases involving officer-related shootings.
- with files from Prince George Citizen
