EDMONTON -- Alberta's police watchdog has cleared officers of any wrongdoing in a 2018 rollover crash that killed a teen in Sherwood Park.
Strathcona County RCMP were investigating stolen vehicles on Aug. 14, 2018 when they tracked a stolen GMC Yukon to Broadmoor Boulevard.
Officers attempted to box in the vehicle in a parking lot and arrest three suspects inside, but the driver of the stolen vehicle took off.
Mounties lost sight of the GMC as it headed north on the boulevard across the Yellowhead Trail overpass and were ordered to stop pursuing the suspects.
Seven minutes later, a 911 caller reported that the GMC had rolled over at the Sherwood Park Freeway off-ramp at 17 Street NW.
Two of the three suspects, a 20- and 21-year-old man, abandoned the vehicle and ran, leaving behind a 16-year-old boy who had been killed in the rollover.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team was called in to investigate whether police action or inaction led to the boy's death.
After interviewing witnesses and police officers involved and reviewing dashcam footage, ASIRT determined police did not pursue the vehicle just prior to it rolling over.
"In this particular case, police made the decision to terminate any pursuit for public safety reasons well in advance of the single vehicle collision," ASIRT said. "As such, it cannot reasonably be argued that the conduct of police, acting in the lawful execution of their duties, but mindful of public safety, caused or contributed to the death of the passenger in the stolen vehicle."
The agency called the 16 year old's death "both tragic and criminal" but ultimately ruled that responsibility for his death lies with the driver of the stolen GMC.
The two men who survived the crash were located and arrested a short time after they fled from the scene.
