One of two people injured in a weekend crash in Greater Victoria is the same man linked to the death of a West Shore Mountie last month, fire officials say.
Malahat Fire Chief Rob Patterson says police at the scene told him one of two people injured is the same man linked to a crash that killed Const. Sarah Beckett.
Last month, sources identified Jake Fenton as the driver of a pickup truck that fatally struck Beckett, a 31-year-old wife and mother of two, at a Langford intersection on April 5.
The weekend crash happened at around 12:50 a.m. Sunday, when officers responded to a request for assistance at an apparent bush party in Goldstream Heights.
As soon as they arrived, a vehicle left the area. Police tried to perform a road check but said the vehicle failed to stop.
Officers then found the vehicle rolled over with two injured people trapped inside.
“We arrived shortly thereafter to find a terrible crash,” said Patterson. “At that point things just started snowballing into a blur of lights and activity. It was more police, advanced life support unit showed up, there was some talk of a helicopter landing zone.”
Patterson said firefighters had to cut off the roof of the vehicle so paramedics could gain access. The woman was not inside the truck when fire crews arrived, he said.
“He was in the driver’s side of the truck,” Patterson said. “Neither one of them were wearing seatbelts, so that was pretty evident by the position of the seatbelts when we got here.”
The man, believed to be Fenton, didn’t regain consciousness until he was in an ambulance and appeared to suffer serious head or neck injuries, he said.
“Looking at the marks on the road, they were travelling at terminal velocity. There’s not a doubt in my mind,” Patterson said.
He said he wasn’t aware of the man’s identity until after the pair was transported by ambulance.
“One of the police officers happened to mention if we recognized the man,” said Patterson. “I said ‘No, I didn’t know.'"
He said that's when the police officer told him it was the same man involved in the death of a West Shore Mountie.
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office was notified of the crash and deployed investigators to the scene.
The watchdog’s aim will be to determine if there’s a connection between the actions or inactions of police and the pair’s injuries.
The IIO and Mounties have yet to confirm if Fenton was involved in the crash, and haven’t named him as a suspect in the crash that killed Beckett. He has not been charged.
A separate IIO investigation into the crash that killed Beckett is still underway, while RCMP Island District General Investigations Section completes its own criminal probe.
Saanich Police said Tuesday they’ve completed a third investigation into that crash and have sent the findings to RCMP.
