B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office will be looking into a Monday morning crash on West Saanich Road to determine if the car was being followed by police.
About 5:30 a.m, a Central Saanich police officer saw an oncoming vehicle travelling southbound on West Saanich near Keating Cross Road, near the Central Saanich-Saanich border.
The officer made a U-turn to try to stop the vehicle, crossed into Saanich and eventually came upon the vehicle, which had crashed into a tree on the roadside between Sparton Road and Hartland Avenue, about four kilometres south of the municipal border.
The IIO did not say if the officer had his emergency lights and siren activated or if a chase had taken place.
Saanich police said it appeared speed was a factor in the crash, based on the level of damage to the vehicle and the debris field.
The driver, a man in his 30s, was taken to Victoria General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The IIO was notified at 6:30 a.m. and deployed two investigators to Saanich for a preliminary investigation. Investigators will try to determine whether “there was a relationship between the officer’s actions and the injuries,” said IIO spokeswoman Kellie Kilpatrick. “There are lots of questions around was there a pursuit, was there lights and sirens, was there speed — those are all things our investigators will be looking at.”
West Saanich Road between Hartland and Sparton roads was closed until 11 a.m. as Saanich police investigated.
“Officers from the Saanich police collision reconstruction team and the forensic identification section have processed the scene and will be sharing the information with investigators from the IIO,” Saanich police spokesman Sgt. Steve Eassie said.
Police have not released the age or identity of the driver.
The Independent Investigations Office is a civilian-led agency that investigates police-involved deaths or serious injuries.
— with file from Cindy E. Harnett
View West Saanich Road closure in a larger map
