RCMP officer charged in high-speed collision that killed man on northern Alberta highway

An RCMP constable faces criminal charges in the death of a 41-year-old man last summer on a northern Alberta highway, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said Friday.

The man, already injured from being hit by another vehicle, was struck by the RCMPvehicle at "an extremely high rate of speed," ASIRT said in a news release.

A 71-year-old man was injured in the same incident but survived.

• ASIRT investigating fatal collision on Highway 881

Const. Michelle Phillips, 27, has been charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death and one count of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, ASIRT said.

At the time of the incident shehad one year of service, the RCMP said.An internal RCMP code of conduct review is underway.

Phillips has been suspended with pay and will remain off duty until the internal processes and all criminal charges against her are resolved, the RCMP said.

ASIRT had been directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding a motor vehicle collision on Aug. 21, 2016, on HIghway 881 near Anzac.

Early that day, an RCMP officer was responding to a report that a vehicle had struck and injured a pedestrian walking on the highway.The exact location of the collision was not clear, ASIRT said.

"While responding at an extremely high rate of speed, the officer came upon a number of vehicles stopped on one side of the highway with their lights on and proceeded to drive past these vehicles without slowing," ASIRT said in the news release.

'Officer ran over the injured pedestrian'

"Unfortunately, this location was where the pedestrian had been originally struck and the officer ran over the injured pedestrian prone on the roadway with the police vehicle, killing him, and striking the hand of a 71-year-old man who had been rendering aid to the pedestrian, causing serious injury."

The 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. The injured bystander was taken to hospital, where he was treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

After ASIRT completed its investigation, it forwarded the file to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service for an opinion.

ASIRT executive director Susan Hughson reviewed both the investigative file and the Crown opinion and determined the officer should be charged, ASIRT said.

The organization said it won't provide any further information because the case is now before the courts.

Phillips has been released on a promise to appear. She is set to appear in Fort McMurray provincial court on Aug. 2.

Anzac is 420 kilometres north of Edmonton.