A man is dead, and B.C.’s police watchdog is investigating after a crash involving a three-wheeled vehicle near Jack Poole Plaza Friday afternoon.
Vancouver police officers were on foot in the 1000 block of Canada Place to investigate a fraud, the Vancouver Police Department said in a statement late Friday night.
“They attempted to speak with a male suspect in a vehicle, but he drove away,” the statement reads. “Less than a block from the scene, the vehicle was involved in a collision and the driver died. No one else was injured.”
Photos from the police-taped scene show a Polaris Slingshot, which is a roofless hybrid between a sports car and a motorcycle, on its side next to a damaged SUV.
A witness said she was driving up to the Fairmont Hotel when she saw two police officers standing in front of her car, blocking access to Canada Place. She then saw the Slingshot speed past, and officers gave chase.
“He tried to flee from the cops, and then he got stuck … it happened very, very quick,” Shirin Shahbazi said, explaining that the driver tried to pass between two vehicles, but ended up getting stuck between them.
“The car flipped over completely, and the guy passed out,” she said. “It was so loud, everyone was screaming. It was a really bad scene.”
B.C. Emergency Health Services said it dispatched ambulances and paramedics to the scene at 3:18 p.m., transporting one patient to hospital in critical condition.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C., which looks into incidents involving police officers in the province that result in death or serious harm to members of the public, has been notified and is investigating, police said.
In its own statement, the IIO confirmed that the driver had been taken to hospital before being pronounced dead.
The office is now working to determine whether there is a connection between police action or inaction and the man’s death. If such a connection is established, the IIO will continue investigating to determine whether any police involved may have committed an offence.
The IIO conducts its investigations regardless of whether there is an allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police.
CTV News has reached out to Vancity Slingshot, a rental company whose branding is stencilled on the side of the vehicle, for more comment on the incident.
