B.C.’s police watchdog has cleared a Kamloops Mountie who tried to pull over a speeding motorcycle before a fatal collision in Valleyview last October.

Donavin Akerley was killed on Sept. 26 when the motorcycle he was riding collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highland Road.

At the time, RCMP said the motorcyclist may have run a red light when it hit the truck which was turning left. Akerley, who was not identified by the RCMP, was killed at the scene while the driver of the pickup was not injured.

In a report released Friday, IIO Chief Civilian Director, Ronald MacDonald says they looked into the crash as witnesses reported seeing a police vehicle flip on its lights as Akerley sped away, just prior to the collision.

While he found no wrongdoing, MacDonald did note some concerns from the unnamed Mountie.

“He had activated his emergency lights in an attempt to have the motorcyclist slow down or pull over,” MacDonald wrote. “It is concerning that he mentioned what had happened immediately before and immediately after he ‘lit up’ the motorcyclist, but failed to mention the most important part of the narrative (most important, that is, with respect to any potential liability accruing to himself).”

“It is also somewhat concerning that when [the officer] did pass on that important detail to the investigating officer, he did it initially via a union representative, rather than immediately and directly as was his duty. He was also late in filing his written occurrence report.”

“The evidence, however, does not rise to the level of grounds to believe that [the officer’s] delayed report of his involvement was wilful, or any more than inadvertent or negligent,” MacDonald added.

“Further, with respect to [the officer’s] actions before the collision, the evidence does not lead to a conclusion that they were in any way improper.”