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No Charges in Lingan Road Accident
The province's independent Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) today released its report regarding an investigation into an August 26th, 2017 motor vehicle accident on the Lingan Road in Sydney, which initially started as a pursuit by a member of the Cape Breton Regional Police (CBRP).
Late on the evening of August 26th, CBRP were called to a complaint of an attempted break and enter into a residence in Sydney. Information received by police indicated a potential suspect and description of the vehicle the person maybe driving. Police spotted the vehicle in the Whitney Pier area and activated the emergency equipment (lights and sirens) in an effort to stop the vehicle.
The suspect vehicle did not stop and proceeded through various streets in the Whitney Pier area ignoring stop signs while traveling at a low rate of speed. A second police vehicle took up the pursuit following behind the first police car. When the suspect vehicle reached the Lingan Road, it picked up speed and continued in the direction of New Waterford. The two pursuing police vehicles were told to abandon the pursuit once they reached the posted speed limit of 80 km per hour. This was done after driving a kilometer on Lingan Road.
Approximately two minutes later these same officers were dispatched to a motor vehicle accident over a kilometer further down Lingan Road. The suspect vehicle was involved in an accident with another vehicle driven in the opposite direction. The driver and lone occupant of the other vehicle suffered serious injuries to both legs and a collapsed lung.
The driver of the suspect vehicle showed signs of impairment and was taken into police custody. Police learned the suspect, initially pursued by them, had been disqualified from driving and was on probation with a condition not to consume alcohol.
The investigation found that the CBRP officer pursuing directly behind the suspect vehicle had clearly abandoned the pursuit prior to the accident occurring further down the Lingan Road. For obvious reasons the suspect driver did not want to stop for police. The accident that resulted was entirely as a result of the choices and actions of the suspect driver. Therefore, in these circumstances, there are no grounds to consider any charges against the police officer.
A complete copy of the report is available at http://sirt.novascotia.ca
SiRT is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia. Investigations are under the direction and control of the independent civilian interim director John Scott who is solely responsible for decisions respecting the laying of any charge.
Media Contact:
John L. Scott
Interim Director
902-424-8400 (office)
902-718-9707 (cell)
