The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) will be forwarding its case for charges against a local RCMP officer.
This stems from an incident two years ago, July 18, 2017, when a man died of his injuries while in custody after struggling with Prince George police and pepper spray was used while trying to arrest him.
He was sent to hospital as he appeared to have trouble breathing and collapsed while stepping out of the police vehicle.
This occurred at 10:32 p.m. when RCMP were responding to a call of a man ‘casing vehicles’ on the 1000-block, Central West St.
IIO has since completed its review of the incident and will be sending the B.C. Prosecution Service its consideration for charges against the Prince George officer.
“This is done when the Chief Civilian Director finds there are reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been committed,” reads an IIO release. “In approving charges, the B.C. Prosecution Service must be satisfied there is a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO and that the prosecution is required in the public interest.”
The matter is now in the hands of the Crown; no other information is being made public at this time.
