2nd crash involving pedestrian and Winnipeg police officer investigated
Independent Investigation Unit looks into incident that closed part of Portage Avenue for 90 minutes Tuesday
Manitoba's Independent Investigation Unit is probing a case in which an off-duty police officer hit a pedestrian on Portage Avenue on Tuesday morning.
Winnipeg police said Tuesday morning that a person had been taken to Health Sciences Centre in stable condition with undetermined injuries after a crash around 9:20 a.m. CT at the intersection of Portage Avenue near Langside Street.
At that time, they did not say a police officer had been involved.
The pedestrian was originally identified as a male, but on Wednesday police corrected that information to indicate the victim is a woman.
When police learned later on Tuesday that the pedestrian was in unstable condition with serious injuries, they closed the eastbound lanes around the scene so investigators could do accident reconstruction. The Independent Investigation Unit said Wednesday that Winnipeg traffic police conducted further examination of the scene and assisted IIU investigators in their probe.
It wasn't until Wednesday that the IIU, which investigates serious cases involving police, informed the public they had taken over the case, that a police officer had been involved, and that the 46-year-old victim's condition had worsened.
The IIU said the woman had been walking between cars across Portage Avenue when she was hit by the officer's personal vehicle.
Police said on Wednesday the woman remains in hospital in stable condition. The driver remained at the scene, said police.
No charges have been laid.
Maurice Sabourin, head of the Winnipeg Police Association, said he doesn't believe the incident is being investigated as a criminal case. He said the off-duty officer was on his way to attend court on his time off.
The Independent Investigation Unit asks witnesses or other individuals with information about the collision or video footage to contact them at 1-844-667-6060.
Nothing 'untoward': police chief
The crash happened more than 10 hours before a separate collision, in which Cody Severight was hit by a vehicle and killed on Main Street near Sutherland Avenue. An off-duty police officer has been charged with impaired driving and leaving the scene of a crime in that case.
Police Chief Danny Smyth said the two incidents are very different.
More from CBC Manitoba:
Corrections
- We briefly reported the crash was fatal. In fact, the crash on Portage Avenue was not fatal, although a crash on Main Street on the same day was fatal.Oct 11, 2017 12:55 PM CT
With files from Jillian Taylor