The Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) has launched an investigation into a Montreal police (SPVM) intervention that took place at the end of January.
The case reveal announcement was delayed for several months until Thursday.
The BEI investigation revolves around an incident that took place on Jan. 28 around 9:30 p.m. in the borough of LaSalle.
A vehicle allegedly committed a traffic violation and was was spotted by police officers. The day after incident, the SPVM reported that a driver had failed to make a mandatory stop at an intersection.
The police then activated their flashing patrol car lights to stop the vehicle, but the driver escaped.
A few minutes later, the driver’s vehicle was reportedly involved in a collision with another car, resulting in several injuries.
About 10 days later, the BEI received new information about this event which prompted it to open an investigation into the police intervention.
The nature of this new information has not been revealed to the public.
The BEI explained that it chose to postpone the announcement of this investigation by several months “in order not to harm the similar investigation that’s being carried out by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).”
The SQ took over the criminal investigation related to the initial events.
The BEI’s mission is to “shed complete light on the facts” surrounding police interventions.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews