The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a woman who died in a motor vehicle incident after fleeing from police on June 21.
Courtenay Brianne Eggen, aged 21, of Cherryville was the driver and sole occupant of a car, which collided with a parked dump truck in a parking lot off Auto Road SE in Salmon Arm, just before midnight.
She died at the scene.
Members of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), whose mandate it is to investigate deaths or serious injuries that are potentially police related, are investigating the fatal motor vehicle incident on Auto Road involving Salmon Arm police.
According to the RCMP, on June 21 at approximately 12:15 a.m., an RCMP officer in Salmon Arm attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle and driver.
A press release issued Monday by the IIO, states, "Initial information indicated that the vehicle stopped, then subsequently fled once the officer approached. It has since been clarified that the vehicle did not stop at any point; rather it fled immediately when the officer attempted to stop it."
"A brief pursuit was initiated but was subsequently terminated. Shortly thereafter, the vehicle collided with a parked truck," states the release.
The IIO was alerted to the situation at 12:30 a.m. and immediately dispatched investigators to the scene, including a high-level traffic re-constructionist.
At the scene in Salmon Arm's Industrial Park Friday morning, the crumpled car sat beside a large dump truck at the edge of the parking lot of the Country Kitchen Restaurant. A basketball and other damaged items were visible in the trunk area of the mangled wreckage.
On the opposite side of Auto Road, a police car sat wedged between a building and an grassy embankment. Investigators were checking tire marks where it appeared the cruiser had gone over the edge of the road and down the short slope. The police cruiser had two tires blown out and its trunk damaged.
Kilpatrick says information provided by the RCMP indicates the pursuit was called off, but the investigators will be reviewing the timeline of the incident.
Auto Road between 40th and 44th Avenue NE was closed until the afternoon fwile investigators examined the scene.
This is the first time the Independent Investigations Office has been called to look into a case in Salmon Arm.
There are four mobile investigative teams, with one on call at any given time to be dispatched around the province.
"We can deploy one, two or partial teams, depending on the nature of the incident. Plus we have people here in Surrey doing additional support work. We can, very quickly, customize the response," said Kilpatrick.