Manitoba RCMP officer’s appeal of conviction following high-speed chase dismissed | CBC News

A Manitoba Mountie’s appeal of her conviction for unsafe driving, after a high-speed chase that sent three people to hospital, has been dismissed.

Const. Laurie Krulicki was charged under the provincial Highway Traffic Act for failing to have due regard for safety while operating an emergency vehicle in connection with a 2023 incident. Following a trial, she was sentenced in January of this year to a reprimand.

She appealed the conviction, arguing a mistake by the trial judge who found her guilty.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchbery dismissed Krulicki’s appeal, saying the trial judge “committed no palpable and overriding errors in reaching the decision,” according to his written decision released Tuesday.

Around 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2023, Krulicki was on patrol on a divided highway, where the speed limit was 90 km/h, when she was passed by a vehicle going 123 km/hr, according to the decision.

The officer turned on her emergency equipment and chased the vehicle, reaching speeds around 200 km/h.

The nearly five-kilometre-long chase continued into a mixed industrial/residential neighbourhood, where the speed limit was 70 km/h. It ended when the vehicle being chased collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Inkster Boulevard and McPhillips Street in Winnipeg, Lanchbery wrote.

A February 2024 release from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, which investigates serious incidents involving police in the province, indicated the collision occurred at Inkster and Keewatin Street.

The man driving the vehicle being chased was taken to Health Sciences Centre, as were two occupants of the second vehicle, with what the police watchdog agency described as serious injuries.

The trial judge noted that “travelling at two-and-a-half times the legal speed limit is extremely dangerous.”

Krulicki contended the trial judge focused exclusively on her speed, choosing to ignore other factors that suggested she was driving with “due care and attention.” The roads were clear, there weren’t any pedestrians and she slowed her vehicle down when approaching red lights, she argued.

“I am not convinced the fact that there were no pedestrians, cyclists, animals, or any hazard on the roadway is sufficient to show due regard for the safety of herself and the public,” Lanchbery wrote in his appeal decision.

“I cannot agree with the defence position that Const. Krulicki’s pursuit of this driver was necessary at this rate of speed for such a prolonged distance,” he said in dismissing the appeal, stressing that the circumstances alone were enough to support the conviction.