VICTORIA -- British Columbia's police watchdog is investigating after an arrest in downtown Victoria that left one man with an injury meeting the official definition of "serious harm."
British Columbia's police watchdog is investigating after an arrest in downtown Victoria left one man with an injury meeting the official definition of "serious harm."
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) said Thursday that it had been notified of an incident that occurred on Feb. 16 near Victoria's Inner Harbour.
On that day, around 10 p.m. Victoria police officers arrested two men on the wharf near Harbour Air, in front of the restaurant Red Fish Blue Fish, the IIO said in a release.
One of the men resisted arrest and was taken into custody after a struggle, according to the IIO. The office did not say what the men were arrested for, and that information was not immediately available from the Victoria Police Department Thursday night.
The IIO said it was notified later on the night of the arrests that the incident had resulted in an injury to the man who resisted arrest that met the definition of "serious harm."
Investigators from the IIO will work to determine what role, if any, the officers' actions played in the man's injuries. They are asking a witness who assisted officers during the arrest, as well as anyone else who may have seen the incident, to call the IIO witness line at 855-446-8477.
The IIO is the civilian oversight agency tasked with investigating all incidents in the province involving police that result in death or serious harm, regardless of whether there is any allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police.
