VICTORIA — An RCMP officer has been charged with driving without due care and attention a year after a five-year-old boy was killed at a Penticton, B.C., intersection.
The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch says Const. Ace Jimmy Stewart was not on duty when the vehicle he was operating is alleged to have hit the boy who with his family at the time.
A branch news release says the charge comes after an investigation where the chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office determined that the officer may have committed an offence.
Reports at the time said James McIntosh, a Grade 1 student, was riding his bike as he crossed an intersection at Highway 97 when the accident occurred.
Release from #CJB . Cst. Ace Stewart charged w/ driving without due care and attention after 5 y/o boy killed. pic.twitter.com/nUjaqHjDUO
— Shelby Thom (@ShelbyThom980) September 9, 2016
An official with the IIO, the body that investigates officer-involved serious crimes, says the officer was making a right-hand turn at the time when he struck the boy who had been using the crosswalk correctly.
The single charge was sworn against Stewart in a Penticton court on Friday and his next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 12.
