Winnipeg police officer charged with driving offences linked to highway crash

A Winnipeg Police Service officer has been charged with driving offences following an investigation into a January crashby the province's police watchdog.

The charges follow an investigation into a collision on the divided four-lane portion of the Trans-Canada Highway in the rural municipality of Reynolds involving Winnipeg police officers and a civilian vehicle, a newsrelease from the IndependentInvestigation Unit of Manitobasaid Wednesday.

A 22-year-oldman from Alberta and two on-duty Winnipeg police officers were injured in a crasheast of the city around 5:35 p.m. on Jan. 31, RCMP said in a news release dated Feb. 7. RCMP confirmed Wednesday thisis the incident is linked to thedriving offence charges.

The accident happened on Highway1, near Prawda, in the ruralmunicipalityof Reynolds, the February release said.

A vehicle was travelling westbound on Highway 1 when a second vehicle entered the highway from a parked position, resulting in a collision, RCMP said at the time.

Thedriver of the westbound vehiclewas takento local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The second vehicle had two on-duty Winnipeg Police Service officers whowere takento a Winnipeg hospital, where they were treated for injuries and released, RCMP said in February.

At the time, the accident was reported to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, which decided to take a monitoring role in the RCMP investigation. On Feb. 16, however, the IIUsaid ittook chargeof the investigation after receiving additional information.

Const. Ian Case has been issued a Provincial Offences Act ticket for careless driving and making an unauthorized U-turn under the Highway Traffic Act, the IIU said Wednesday.

IIU said in its Wednesday release it won't comment further as the matter is now before the courts.