Police watchdog investigates Winnipeg car chase, crash
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/05/2019 (1772 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A man is in hospital following a Thursday morning car chase, marking the second time this week the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has been called to investigate an incident involving Winnipeg police that resulted in serious injury.
The chase grew out of the alleged robbery of a beer vendor on the 2100 block of McPhillips Street at about 11:50 p.m. Wednesday, police said in a news release. The two suspects, who police say were wielding a firearm, left the beer vendor in a stolen vehicle, which was spotted by officers in the St. John’s neighbourhood at about 1:30 a.m.
“It was a very brief pursuit,” Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Jay Murray said.
Murray said the stolen vehicle was an SUV and described the driver as a man in his twenties.
The vehicle lost control on a highway exit ramp between eastbound Perimeter Highway and southbound Main Street. Police said the driver collapsed as he tried to flee the scene, and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
The man was later listed in stable condition, and the Winnipeg Police Service’s major crimes unit is investigating the incident.
Police believe the second robbery suspect was no longer in the vehicle when the crash occurred, Murray said. He would not comment on whether the suspect in custody was previously known to police.
“Anytime (the IIU) has been notified, and there’s a potential for them to take an investigation, we have to be very careful on what information we provide, because we don’t want to influence their investigation or affect it in any way,” said Murray.
The provincial police watchdog has confirmed it is investigating the car chase. The driver of the stolen vehicle was taken to Health Sciences Centre with a collapsed lung and broken rubs sustained in the crash, the IIU said in a release Thursday.
“As the individual was hospitalized, this meets the definition of a serious injury under regulations and, accordingly, the IIU is mandated to investigate.”
The IIU used the same language to describe its probe into a Tuesday incident in St. Boniface, in which a man said to be causing a disturbance was handcuffed by police and removed from a city bus before going into unspecified “medical distress.”
That man remains in critical condition at Grace Hospital, according to the IIU.
The IIU is asking anyone with information about either incident, or video footage, to call 844-667-6060.
solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @sol_israel