Former prosecutor says trucker could have been arrested, RCMP disagree

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This article was published 22/11/2024 (314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Crown prosecutor says Manitoba RCMP likely could have arrested a semi-truck driver now wanted on Canada-wide warrant, but police argue it wouldn’t have stopped the man from leaving before they pressed charges.

Mounties continued the search Friday for 25-year-old Navjeet Singh, who was charged Wednesday in a fatal collision that killed Sara Unger, 35, and her eight-year-old Alexa Unger.

“I think anybody looking back on this turn of events on this case might say, ‘Well, wasn’t it foreseeable, wasn’t it predictable that this could have happened?’” said former prosecutor Brandon Trask.

“I would be concerned if people in the public are left with the impression that police don’t have the ability to arrest somebody if they’ve got a belief based on reasonable grounds that an individual had committed an offence.”

Police allege Singh was driving a semi-trailer that blew a stop sign at an intersection near Altona and struck the Ungers’ SUV on Nov. 15.

Singh was taken to hospital after the crash and officers attempted to interview him, but he was too shaken up to provide a statement. Investigators scheduled a meeting with him later but he failed to show up, RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said.

A warrant was issued for his arrest, but Singh had not been seen by police for two days as of Friday evening. It is unclear whether he remains in Winnipeg, or may have fled the province.

Manaigre said officers did not detain Singh at the hospital because they were not within their legal rights. The investigation was ongoing and police were not prepared to lay charges, he said.

Trask, who teaches law at the University of Manitoba, said eyewitness statements and preliminary evidence collected from an accident or crime scene can form the basis for an arrest. Officers can then detain a person for up to 24 hours as they continue to gather evidence and prepare charges, he said.

Police said early on that charges were anticipated in the crash, which happened at the intersection of provincial roads 201 and 306. A witness travelling behind the Ungers’ SUV told investigators the semi-truck appeared to be travelling at high speed.

Manaigre defended RCMP’s decision not to arrest Singh immediately, saying officers had no indication he would be a flight risk.

“Hindsight is always 20-20. When you look at, ‘OK, now he is running,’ Well, then of course we should have detained him, but when you can’t get information from the driver at the hospital … we can’t talk to him.”

He said it is not uncommon for people involved in accidents to be given time to recover from shock before they provide a statement to investigators.

“You’ll need probably those few days for your mind to come out of it and then hopefully you’ll start recollecting events, which is what you want,” Manaigre said. “If we actually went and arrested him, well now you’re starting the 24-hour clock and you’ve got 24 hours to deal with him. He has to be released or taken into custody … You haven’t accomplished anything.”

Manaigre said it may have been possible to arrest and charge Singh before having to release him, but such a move could compromise the case against him later on if it was rushed.

“I’d rather do things properly at the beginning,” he said.

Winnipeg defence lawyer Scott Newman said police often seek the opinion of an accident re-constructionist before determining whether a collision was criminal. Such examinations can include mechanical inspections of a vehicle and a review of the scene, he said.

Newman said it is too early to say for certain whether Singh is intentionally evading police.

“I have to be cautious because I don’t know what evidence the police had,” he said.

“I can imagine where if somebody gets out of an accident … you might want to go and see your family, you may want to go and see a lawyer and get legal advice from somebody you trust in your home community. I don’t think this is a situation where we can say he’s fled the country.”

Police said Singh holds a valid Ontario driver’s licence. They did not confirm whether he is a Canadian citizen.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca