UPDATE: Witnesses say cop ran red light, sent woman to hospital
KELOWNA – Witnesses to an accident involving a police vehicle that sent a Kelowna woman to hospital Tuesday afternoon are saying the officer caused the accident by running a red light.
Amanda May Embree was on her way to Mission Creek Park with two friends and a three-year-old boy around 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24.
"We were directly behind the police SUV," she says. "The light was definitely red when (the officer) went through and smoked her."
They all saw the black car was making a left-hand turn and was half way through the oncoming lane when the police SUV ran the red light and crashed into her. There is an advanced green light at that intersection.
"He had enough time to stop," she says. "He wasn't going fast, it just looked to us like he slow-rolled through the intersection. He didn't have his lights or siren on. We were just in shock."
The SUV hit the car in the front right corner and spun it half way around, according to Embree. The driver, a 22-year-old Kelowna woman, was taken to Kelowna General Hospital with what Sgt. Ann Morrison of the RCMP is calling "minor injuries."
“The traffic lights at the intersection were operating properly,” she says. “There is an advanced green there but whether she got caught in the intersection or not, that is all part of the investigation.”
Embree says at no time did police approach her or her friends for statements about what they saw.
"We were at the park for about an hour and by the time we drove back the black car had already been towed but the cop car was still sitting there," she says. "Maybe he was on his computer or something but it would be pretty unfair for this girl to go through a whole investigation when it's obvious who is at fault."
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
— This story was updated at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25 to include information from witnesses to the accident.
7 responses
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People laugh in shock all the time, it is a natural human response, it is how the human brain copes with Shock, it sounds like you may not have known this “Christopher Liam” you know now. Also, perhaps she was laughing at how an on duty trained “police officer” in a marked car could make such an error. Also, the fact that the RCMP never took Amanda’s information is strange since that is standard.
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this is just insane. cops are getting away with anything and everything, I am hearing way to much lately about accident involving police officers and they are never at fault witnesses or not. there is a lady living in my apartment building that had her car written off and got a new one because a cop ( distracted by looking at his computer) rear ended her and they are giving her a really hard time about it. I was in an accident a few years ago due to a cop car coming out into the intersection on a red light and then turning his lights on. the girl on front of me had to slam on her breaks and I totaled my truck when I hit her. Of course it was my fault even though the officer that was driving the car that caused the accident admitted right to me that he was late for a meeting so he couldn’t take me home. I got a bad screwed up knee over it. The legal system is right screwed up. How about we start punishing our lack of police officers. and maybe make then follow the same rules we have to. police are humans too, and guess what they can get distracted aswell,There not perfect clearly.
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Maybe they shouldn’t be allowed on those damn computers while they are driving! If it is THAT important they are always looking at it, get them a partner. It is as bad, or worse, than texting and driving because its not even in front of their faces! I’m not sure if that’s what happened.. but this is sad, she probably won’t get the compensation she deserves, its frustrating and time consuming, and he wont be punished the way a civilian would :(
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Amanda…. Please don’t be afraid to go to court as a witness for the victim.. Cops or not , when it happened to my wife and our boy at Richter and KLO on Nov 16 2014 , ICBC screwed her in the ear because the “witness” that saw the dood run a red light and clobber them “couldn’t be found”… You are 100% right when you say the other driver doesn’t deserve to be investigated for this…
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Until there is a police report issued there is no official blame attached we know the light was red the cop went through no lights no siren and hit a car turning left on a green arrow. That will be part of the witness report and entered at the appropriate time.To suggest there is collusion between cops and media on a little story like this is just silly.
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fuck the police, bunch of fucken morons think there superman wearing that $1.50 badge, do us all a favor and stop blaming your mistakes on the innocent u clowns.
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kewl didn’t know you could predict the future, accident happened at 3pm yet was reported at 115 pm.
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