B.C.’s citizen-led police-watchdog agency says charges should be considered against a Duncan police officer who shot a man driving a piece of heavy equipment in a residential area two years ago.
The Independent Investigations Office, which looks into police-related incidents involving death or serious injury, referred the matter to the B.C. Prosecution Service following its probe into the case.
The case unfolded on the evening of March 28, 2023, when North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP responded to a report that a man was operating a skid-steer loader in a residential area in Duncan.
They arrived to find him on the loader in the Evans Park area, the IIO said in a recent report. After contact between the loader and police vehicles, police fired shots.
The man was treated in hospital for serious injuries and later released, the report said.
The case was referred to the IIO for investigation in August 2023.
Jessica Berglund, the IIO’s chief civilian director, reviewed the evidence following the investigation “and determined that reasonable grounds exist to believe that one officer may have committed an offence in relation to the use of a firearm,” the report said.
For the B.C. Prosecution Service to bring charges, it must be satisfied there is a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO, the report said. It must also deem that prosecuting the case is in the public interest.
The man who was shot, David Cochrane, said last October that he was suing the RCMP for what he alleged was “excessive, unjustifiable force” that left bullet fragments in his body and brain.
He claimed that officers pursued him with “unnecessary, unreasonable zeal.”
Cochrane said he had been in a car crash on the morning of the day he was shot, and was subsequently observed by hospital staff to be mumbling and unaware what day it was.
About six hours later, police received reports that a “bandaged-up man who doesn’t look well” was driving a loader, Cochrane’s suit said.
He alleged he was pursued by at least four police vehicles, even though the loader had a top speed of 12.6 km/h.
His claim says that officers knew or should have known he was in a state of medical crisis, and that he wasn’t driving in a way meant to cause harm.
