WINNIPEG -- Manitoba's police watchdog has cleared the police officers involved in a crash that left a mother and her infant child dead, and others injured in the North End.
The crash happened on Sept. 26, 2020, after Winnipeg police tried to conduct a traffic stop.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU) said when officers attempted to stop a pickup truck in the area of Salter Street and Boyd Avenue, the truck took off and collided with a van at the intersection of Andrews Street and Boyd Avenue.
There were four people, including an infant and a child, in the van at the time. Everyone involved in the crash was taken to the hospital. A mother and her 10-month-old infant son both died as a result of the crash.
CTV News previously confirmed the mother was 30-year-old Jennifer Dethmers. Her son Anthony died almost one month after the crash.
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IIU began an investigation into the crash, interviewing the people who were in the truck, the driver of the van, two officers who witnessed the crash, 15 civilian witnesses, and a Winnipeg police traffic collision analyst.
IIU investigators also reviewed the police homicide summary, the dispatch records, radio calls, GPS data on police vehicles, drone photos from the crash, along with videos and photos that were taken at the scene.
"The civilian director did not find evidence to support a conclusion that any police officer contributed to the cause of the collision and resulting deaths and injuries," the IIU said in a release.
Winnipeg police previously charged 43-year-old Armand Joseph Jr. Chartrand with dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death and causing death by criminal negligence, along with four counts of dangerous operation of a conveyance, and four counts of causing bodily harm by criminal negligence.
He was also charged under the Highway Traffic Act with driving while suspended and driving without insurance.
The charges have not been proven in court.
The IIU said it will release the full report on the incident once the court proceedings have ended.
