No charges in police crash that killed Lower Mainland jogger

B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office has found no grounds for criminal charges against an officer whose unmarked police vehicle struck and killed a partially deaf jogger in the Lower Mainland last December.

The officer was responding to a reported domestic violence incident on the rainy, dark evening of Dec. 14. The IIO said the vehicle, with lights and siren activated, reached about 121 km/h on 152 Street, where the speed limit is 60 km/h.

A witness told investigators the jogger was wearing dark clothing with her hood up and moved quickly from the sidewalk into the roadway. The witness estimated the officer had less than a second to react. The woman died at the scene; her family said she was deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other.

The original call alleged a man had dragged a struggling woman from a vehicle into a home where children were crying. Although police were told the apparent victim and children had left before the collision, an officer in the vehicle said they could not be certain that nobody else remained at risk because the man was still shouting inside.

Chief civilian director Jessica Berglund said reducing speed after that update might have been prudent given the conditions, but the officer’s overall assessment was not so unreasonable as to amount to criminality. She also concluded the crash might have occurred even at the posted speed limit.