Myles Gray investigation drags on, 3 years after fatal run-in with Vancouver police
Independent Investigations Office of B.C. says case is 'receiving significant attention'
Three years after Myles Gray died in a violent struggle with multiple Vancouver police officers, there are still very few answers about what happened.
For 36 months now, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has been looking into what caused the long list of traumatic injuries that led to Gray's death on Aug. 13, 2015.
On Monday, the anniversary of Gray's death, the IIO's chief civilian director, Ron MacDonald, would only say that the investigation is ongoing.
"It is receiving significant attention from the investigative team. As we await receipt of important third party information, we continue to prepare for conclusion. Affected parties have been updated on progress," MacDonald said.
Gray, a 33-year-old businessman from Sechelt, was unarmed when police were called to South East Marine Drive to investigate reports that a man was spraying a woman with a garden hose.
The encounter that ended Gray's life took place in a backyard on Joffre Avenue in Burnaby. The yard was hidden from view by bushes and trees, and there were no surveillance cameras or witnesses apart from the eight police officers on scene.
An autopsy of Gray's body revealed multiple injuries, including "fractured voice box; nasal fracture; dislocated jaw; fractured right orbital eye socket; fractured posterior right third rib; fractured sternum; hemorrhagic injury of one testicle; multi-focal bruising to thigh and right arm," according to a court document filed by the IIO.
The police watchdog's investigation was frustrated for months by a dispute with Vancouver officers over their duty to co-operate with investigators.
Last October, the IIO turned to the B.C. Supreme Court for help ending that impasse, filing a petition asking a judge to order an officer who witnessed the altercation to sit for a second interview.
That officer, Const. Hardeep Sahota, ended her refusals and was interviewed earlier this year, prompting the IIO to withdraw its petition.
That court document also alleged that none of the officers made any notes about the altercation, contrary to VPD policy. It says seven of them did submit evidence pages to PRIME, the police database, but not until at least five months after Gray had died.