B.C. RCMP officer cleared of wrongdoing in crash with murder suspects

One of the suspects suffered a broken leg and a broken finger in the collision with the Richmond RCMP cruiser, according to a report published Tuesday by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.

British Columbia’s police oversight agency has cleared an RCMP officer of wrongdoing after his vehicle collided with an SUV carrying three men wanted for a gangland murder at a Vancouver golf course.

One of the suspects suffered a broken leg and a broken finger in the collision with the RCMP cruiser, according to a report published Tuesday by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.

All three suspects—Deandre Baptiste, Balraj Basra and Iqbal Kang—would eventually be found guilty in the slaying of 38-year-old Vishal Walia at the University Golf Club.

Police responded to the shooting near the UBC Vancouver campus on the morning of Oct. 17, 2022, where the three suspects were seen fleeing in a silver Audi that was later found burning in a residential neighbourhood.

According to the police oversight agency, the suspects sped away from the neighbourhood in a white Honda CR-V with police in close pursuit.

Vancouver police officers followed with lights and sirens activated as the suspect vehicle headed eastbound on Marine Drive, running red lights in an effort to evade capture.

The RCMP officer, who is not named in the IIO report but was then serving with the B.C. Highway Patrol, sped across the Alex Fraser Bridge, near the Richmond-New Westminster boundary, to intercept the suspects in a maneuver that was captured on his dash camera video.

The cruiser collided with the suspect vehicle, which then hit a second vehicle that was stopped at a red light, causing minor injuries to the civilian driver.

Jessica Berglund, the chief civilian director of the police oversight office, found “it was not unreasonable” for the officer “to make a split-second decision at that time to bring the chase to a conclusion by force,” according to the report.

“The arrest of all three suspects was carried out quite forcefully,” Berglund continued. “But given the likelihood that they were in possession of firearms, and the apparently desperate motivation to escape, that was not unreasonable.”

The office, which investigates all police-related incidents that result in serious harm or death in B.C., found no grounds to recommend charges against the Mountie.

While all three suspects would eventually be charged with first-degree murder, only Basra would be convicted of the crime, while Baptiste pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and Kang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ian Holliday