IIO Seeking Witnesses to Incident in Penticton (2026-053)

Case: 2026-053 Incident Date: March 3, 2026 Detachment: Penticton Location: Penticton Agency: RCMP Incident Classification: Serious Harm Case Status: Open - Investigation in Progress

INFORMATION BULLETIN
Independent Investigations Office
For Immediate Release

Surrey, B.C. — The Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) is investigating an incident that occurred this morning (March 3, 2026) in Penticton.

Information provided by the RCMP states that at around 4:30 a.m., police responded to a call about a man smashing vehicle windows on Lakeshore Drive.

One officer initially responded and located a man believed to be involved. A physical interaction then occurred as the officer tried to arrest the man.

A second officer later arrived and there was contact between their police vehicle and the man being arrested.

The man suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for assessment and treatment.

The first officer also suffered injuries during the initial interaction with the man and was taken to the hospital for assessment and treatment. He has since been discharged.

The IIO was notified shortly after the incident and has begun an investigation.

There are two factors that the IIO considers at the beginning of each investigation:

  1. If there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or a death; and
  2. If there is a connection between the serious harm/death and officer action or inaction.

If both conditions are met, the investigation will continue to examine all available evidence to determine what occurred. At the conclusion of the investigation, the chief civilian director will consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence may have occurred.

The IIO asks that any witnesses who have information regarding this matter to please contact the IIO at our Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.

Background

The IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of officers and detention guards in British Columbia. It investigates all incidents involving officers or detention guards that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.
info@iiobc.ca

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