Was police chase a crime?

Photo: RCMP

British Columbia's police watchdog has forwarded a report to Crown counsel for consideration of charges against an RCMP officer who was chasing a vehicle that hit a police cruiser, killing the officer inside.

Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Beckett was killed in an intersection near Victoria last April.

The Independent Investigations Office says it focused its investigation on the RCMP officer who first attempted to stop and pull over a vehicle.

The office says it has forwarded its report to the Crown to consider that the officer pursuing the vehicle may have committed an offence.

The unit does not make any recommendations whether charges should be approved.

It says in a news release that the Criminal Justice Branch must be satisfied that an offence may have been committed and that it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Kenneth Fenton, the man accused of hitting Beckett's vehicle broadside, faces five charges, including impaired driving causing death and flight from police causing death.