Officer cleared in 2024 Moose Jaw police incident that ended in fatal rollover

The side decals of a Moose Jaw Police Service cruiser can be seen in this file photo. (David Prisciak/CTV News)

Saskatchewan’s police oversight organization has cleared the officer involved in a 2024 incident that ended with a fatal rollover on the city’s Main Street.

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) released its report on the Nov. 7, 2024 incident on Monday afternoon.

On Nov. 7, 2024, at around 11:42 p.m., officers with the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) received a call from a driver in the city, claiming they were being chased by another vehicle. According to police, the caller explained that a fight preceded the chase.

Two minutes later, the police service received another call reporting the same vehicle.

At 11:47 p.m., an officer in a marked police vehicle witnessed the silver Honda Civic driving northbound on Main Street at a “high rate of speed.”

The officer turned onto Main Street and activated their emergency lights and siren. Around a minute later, at 11:48 p.m., the officer radioed in that the car had crashed on Main Street.

Paramedics responded and took the car’s driver and a passenger to hospital. A second passenger, a 31-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the report, SIRT was notified around 40 minutes later at 12:33 a.m.

SIRT investigators spoke with the survivors of the crash, first responders to the scene as well as two MJPS officers, one of whom was the officer who attempted to stop the car.

A collision reconstructionist report found the Civic was travelling between 96 km/h and 107 km/h at the time it crashed into a raised centre median on Main Street – rolling a total of 85 metres before coming to a stop.

Neither the driver, nor the two passengers, were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

According to the report, video footage of the area confirmed the Civic failed to stop for police and fled down Main Street. The report noted the two vehicles did not contact each other at any point and in fact were between 12 and 15 seconds apart when the Civic struck the meridian.

An autopsy confirmed the passenger who perished in the crash died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head after being ejected from the vehicle.

In conclusion, SIRT found the officer was correct in trying to stop the vehicle, under the Traffic Safety Act.

“Based on the evidence obtained from the surviving passenger of the Civic, the occupants of the Civic were actively attempting to evade police but were unaware of whether police were still engaged or of the distance between their vehicle and police,” the report read.

Once the officer realized the driver was not stopping, they continued to follow the Civic at a distance in order to warn other drivers of the danger.

“The evidence does not establish that the manner in which the Civic was being operated was influenced by any action or inaction on the part of the Subject Officer,” the report read.

“Accordingly, there is no reasonable basis to conclude that the actions of police caused or contributed to the collision that ultimately led to the death of the affected person.”