The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is asking for witnesses to a police-involved crash that sent a civilian and two officers to hospital in 91原创 earlier this spring.
On April 10 this year, officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) and the Integrated Police Dog Services Unit were following a suspect vehicle thought to be linked to a robbery.
While driving east on 36 Avenue near 200 Street, the CFSEU vehicle crashed into a car being driven by a member of the public, according to an IIO statement.
Firefighters and ambulance paramedics were called to the scene, and the civilian was taken to hospital for assessment and treatment, and two officers also suffered injuries in the crash, said the IIO release.
The IIO investigates all incidents in which a civilian is injured or killed during an interaction with police. That includes everything from arrests to deaths in holding cells to crashes involving police vehicles.
The crash scene involved multiple vehicles, according to police statements after the incident.
According to local Mounties, the investigation that led to the April 10 incident began at about 1245 p.m. the day before, when a man and a woman allegedly made off with a shopping cart full of tools from a store in the 2500 block of 160 Street in Surrey. When a staff member at the store confronted them, the man allegedly pulled out a handgun, said Surrey Police Service spokesperson Sgt. Tige Pollock.
The blue Toyota Matrix the duo was seen leaving in was spotted in 91原创 the following morning, and police mobilized groups including the RCMP Strike Force Target Team, the Auto Crime Target Team, the CFSEU, 91原创 RCMP, and a police helicopter.
According to the police account of the incident, officers tried to stop the suspect vehicle, and the suspect was then involved in a crash with police vehicles near Noel Booth Park on 36 Avenue. The crash involving the civilian nearby took place around the same time.
Four people were arrested at the scene.
The IIO is asking anyone who witnessed the crash, and has not already spoken to their investigators, as well as anyone who might have video footage of the incident, to call the IIO Witness Line at 1-855-446-8477 or use.
