Murray Wood: When people show you who they are, act accordingly
When it comes to repeat offenders and newcomers who commit crimes, Murray Wood thinks most Canadians would agree that pu...
An investigation into a teenager’s death in 2024 found that police were not responsible.
According to the investigation summary produced by the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), the teen went to a home in Saskatoon on the evening of Aug. 23, 2024. Hours later, at around 1:10 a.m. on Aug. 24, Warman RCMP saw a truck driving along Highway 16 near Saskatoon without its taillights on.
Officers made a U-turn and tried to pull the truck over, but it failed to stop and accelerated away.
Read more:
- Masked teen arrested after robbery at Saskatoon business: Police
- Investigation underway after Regina workers find possible human remains
- Man dead after e-bike crash on Albert Street: Regina police
RCMP did not pursue, SIRT wrote in its summary. Instead, officers pulled over and requested that a file be created to report the failed traffic stop.
Officers also announced the failed stop over the radio and shared a description of the truck, which was heading westbound toward Langham.
A Corman Park Police Service member acknowledged the announcement and said he would travel to the area. Around 1:23 a.m., the officer confirmed he saw a truck matching the description, which was reportedly going 110 km/h without lights on.
The Corman Park officer didn’t try to stop the truck and instead followed at a distance.
A few minutes later, according to SIRT, the truck pulled onto a back road near Langham and soon after went off the road and through a ditch into a field. Officers chose not to continue engaging with the truck, saying that it was unlikely the driver could get very far because it was raining heavily.
The teenager’s family reported him missing on the morning of Aug. 25. That evening, a truck matching the description was spotted partially submerged in a sewage lagoon northwest of Langham.
No one was in the truck.
On Aug. 25, a friend of the teen’s called police to share that a search group found a body floating in the lagoon.
SIRT launched an investigation on Aug. 26, 2024.
Its mandate includes conducting independent investigations when a person has died or been seriously injured from the actions of police.
More than two years later, the team released its findings.
An autopsy found no physical injuries that caused or contributed to the teen’s death.
According to SIRT’s investigation, at some point after the truck stopped, the teenager left the vehicle and died, “as a result of acute cocaine intoxication.”
The report outlined how police quickly disengaged from the attempted traffic stop, made no further attempts to stop the truck, and the teenager drove off the road before eventually going into the lagoon.
Based on that analysis, SIRT wrote in its report that “there is no reasonable basis in either fact or law to conclude that the actions or omissions of police caused or contributed to the affected person’s death, and accordingly, there are no grounds to believe that a Criminal Code offence was committed by any police officer during this incident.”
