Police watchdog called in after fatal crash in Sydney

Cape Breton Regional Police have called in Nova Scotia's Serious Incident Response Team after a fatal car crash early Monday morning involving its force.

Around 1:30 a.m. AT, police attempted to stop a vehicle on Prince Street in Sydney because it did not have a matching licence plate and appeared to be stolen, according to a news release from Cape Breton police.

The vehicle fled and police abandoned the pursuit.

Minutes later, police found the vehicle crashed into a house on the corner of George Street and Byng Avenue.

Police say the driver and two occupants were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but a third passenger was found dead at the scene.

No one in the house was injured.

The driver was arrested and charges are pending.

Felix Cacchione, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, said an investigator is being sent to Sydney from Halifax after Cape Breton police referred the incident to SIRT.

He said there is no immediate indication of wrongdoing, but SIRThas to investigate when police are involved in a fatality.

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