Police cleared in use of force after officers hurt in crash

By: Free Press staff Posted: 12:26 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 11, 2024

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said police used a reasonable amount of force when arresting a suspect after a stolen truck collided with a police cruiser, seriously injuring two officers.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/04/2024 (576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Officers spotted the Lincoln Mark LT near Inkster Boulevard and St. Cross Street shortly before the crash, which happened at Main Street and Belmont Avenue at about 4 a.m. on June 7, 2023.

The IIU said in a news release Thursday that the driver of the truck tried to flee after the collision and that police used a Taser on the man during a “brief use-of-force encounter.” After taking him to a police station, officers noticed he had suffered “visible injuries,” and an ambulance transported him to Health Sciences Centre.

Winnipeg Police Service investigators at the scene of the crash at Main Street and Belmont Avenue on June 7. (MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES)

The IIU determined the use of force was “reasonable” and said the matter “is now closed.”

Police said in June that one of the officers suffered particularly serious injuries.

McKae Ledingham, who was 25 when he was arrested, was on bail at the time. He was charged with two counts each of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and criminal negligence causing bodily harm and single counts of resisting arrest, possessing a stolen vehicle and failing to comply with a bail condition. Ledingham, who is from the Interlake village of Riverton, was prohibited from being in the driver’s seat of a vehicle without the owner’s consent when he was released on bail May 23.

The truck was stolen in Stonewall the week before the crash, police said in June.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca