IIO recommends charges in 2015 death
Posted January 16, 2019 11:38 am.
Last Updated January 16, 2019 2:13 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – B.C.’s police watchdog says it is recommending charges against some Vancouver Police Officers in relation to the 2015 death of a man in Burnaby.
Myles Gray died on Aug. 13, 2015 after an altercation with VPD officers who were trying to take him into custody at a home on Joffre Avenue near Marine Drive in Burnaby.
Police have said they were responding to complaints of a man causing a disturbance when a violent altercation broke out.
“In approving charges, B.C. Prosecution Service must be satisfied there is a substantial likelihood of conviction based on the evidence gathered by the IIO and that the prosecution is in the public interest,” the Independent Investigation Office of B.C. says in a release.
IIO Chief Civilian Director Ron MacDonald tells NEWS 1130 the investigation experienced delays, leading to the three-and-a-half-year lag in recommending charges.
“It was a complex case that involved a great deal of evidence gathered from a great number of witnesses,” MacDonald said. “There was a good deal of forensic evidence that needed to be obtained. We would have preferred to complete it more quickly, for sure.”
One delay, he says, involved a disagreement with one of the witness officers in the case over taking a second statement. “That led to a court proceeding, so that did add some time to the matter,” MacDonald said. “It is fair to say the IIO could have done a bit of its work more timely.”
A cause of death has not been revealed and the IIO has not said how many officers it thinks should be charged.
