UPDATE: Dawson Creek traffic stop leads to hit and run

UPDATE: More details from RCMP have been added to the story.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — A traffic stop in Dawson Creek led to a hit-and-run incident on Friday night.

At approximately 9 p.m. on August 11th, police attempted a traffic stop on an older pick-up truck on 8th Street, near 116th Avenue in Dawson Creek.

According to the RCMP, the truck fled from police into oncoming traffic and hit the passenger side of another vehicle before driving away. Police did not pursue the truck. 

Constable Emma Baron with the Dawson Creek RCMP said police pursuit policy is rigid and pursuits are rarely authorized.

“The policy that RCMP officers follow recognizes that pursuits are extremely dangerous to the public, posing a great risk of injury and property damage and thus the justification to pursue a vehicle must out weigh the grave danger that the actual pursuit itself presents,” Baron said.

“In this instance the only offences committed are related to property damage and driving offences which by policy do not justify a pursuit.”

No injuries were reported.

Officers later located the truck unoccupied and had it towed.

According to Baron, the vehicle was not known to police.