Nova Scotia

Police watchdog called in after fatal crash in Sydney

Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team is sending an investigator to Sydney after a fatal car crash early Monday morning involving Cape Breton Regional Police.

Serious Incident Response Team sends investigator from Halifax after fatal crash involving Cape Breton police

Workers repair the porch after a vehicle crashed into a house on George Street in Sydney, N.S., early Monday morning, killing one passenger. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

Cape Breton Regional Police have called in Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team after a fatal car crash early Monday morning involving its force.

Around 1:30 a.m. AT, police attempted to stop a vehicle on Prince Street in Sydney because it did not have a matching licence plate and appeared to be stolen, according to a news release from Cape Breton police.

The vehicle fled and police abandoned the pursuit.

Minutes later, police found the vehicle crashed into a house on the corner of George Street and Byng Avenue.

Police say the driver and two occupants were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but a third passenger was found dead at the scene.

No one in the house was injured.

The driver was arrested and charges are pending.

Felix Cacchione, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, said an investigator is being sent to Sydney from Halifax after Cape Breton police referred the incident to SIRT.

He said there is no immediate indication of wrongdoing, but SIRT has to investigate when police are involved in a fatality.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Ayers

Reporter/Editor

Tom Ayers has been a reporter and editor for 38 years. He has spent the last 20 covering Cape Breton and Nova Scotia stories. You can reach him at [email protected].