Calgary police retract statement about dead toddler's parent waving driver through intersection

Calgary police have retracted a statement they initially made about the circumstancesbefore a four-year-old girl was struck and killed by a pickup truck in Bownessand a week after the driver saw the careless driving charge against her dropped.

Shortly after the fatal collision in May 2016, police told reporters that one of the girl'sparents had waved the driver through the intersection atat 79th Street and 47th Avenue N.W. before Avi Toulonwas hit.

Butnow police say that may not be true.

• Fatal accident that killed 4-year-old 'could happen to any of us,' says lawyer as charge dropped mid-trial

"This information was inadvertently released to the media without verification," police said in a news release issued Thursday evening.

"The subsequent investigation could not confirm this fact and the origin of the information could not be traced. The Calgary Police Service apologizes to the Toulon family for the release of this information."

The retraction comesa week after the Crown withdrew its main charge against the driver, mid-trial.

In the immediate aftermath of the collision, police had generally described it as an unfortunate accident that didn'tappear to be the driver's fault.

But more than three months later,in September 2016, they announced charges ofcareless driving and operating an uninsured motor vehicle against 38-year-oldTanisLambert non-criminal offences that fall under the provincial Traffic Safety Act.

The case just recently went to trial and the Crown opted to withdraw the careless driving charge after conflicting witness testimony.

Avi's parents are also suing the driver and have been critical of how police handled the case from the beginning.

Her father, Craig Toulon, said last year that police had spoken publicly about disputed details of thecrash "before the investigating officers had obtained statements from me and my wife, the primary witnesses to the collision."

• Avayah Toulon's family sues driver, criticizes police over handling of fatal collision

Judge Josh Hawkes, who was overseeing the driver's trial, broke from tradition and commented on the Crown's decision to withdraw the charge.

"In my opinion, this represents an entirely appropriate exercise of prosecutorial discretion," he said.

Through their civil lawyer, the the toddler's parents said they were "very disappointed" by the decision and "look forward to the full story coming out" as part of the lawsuit.

As part of their retraction, police said they are aware of the lawsuit and "will not be commenting further on this issue."

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