Police vehicle hits man in Vancouver, prompting watchdog investigation

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s watchdog agency is looking for witnesses after a police vehicle hit a man lying on the ground in Vancouver last month, leaving him with serious injuries.

The Independent Investigations Office says in a statement that the crash occurred on July 11, when an officer from the Vancouver Police Department was driving a marked police cruiser through a laneway in the city’s Downtown Eastside.

The statement says the police car then struck a man who was lying on the ground at the time, although no other details about the circumstances surrounding the crash were released.

The IIO says the officer stopped and called for help, and the injured man was taken to hospital where his injuries appeared at first to not be serious.