New disturbing footage of man hit by VPD car in DTES shared by community group (VIDEOS)
Editor’s Note: This article includes video footage that may be disturbing to some viewers.
After a video of a Vancouver Police Department vehicle hitting a pedestrian in the Downtown Eastside was posted online, a community group is sharing new footage that provides more angles on the incident and its aftermath.
On Tuesday, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) said that a man was in hospital in serious condition after he was struck by a VPD cruiser near East Hastings and Main streets around 3:20 am.
On Friday, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) tweeted out a thread containing multiple photos and videos while saying it would launch its own community investigation into the incident.
VANDU is conducting a community investigation of the @VancouverPD hit & run in the #DTES on Sep 20. We are collecting testimonies through [email protected].
We received disturbing footage of the incident. Video & analysis below: (1/12) pic.twitter.com/0fGH83yrTJ
— VANDU (@VANDUpeople) September 23, 2022
In the thread, they show a new angle of the collision. Daily Hive has included below in a blurred version for readers, featuring a video of the new angle first, and the second video shows the old angle that surfaced on YouTube on Tuesday.
They also present a video that shows three VPD cruisers arriving on the scene, saying that the vehicles “speed aggressively into a crowd of observers and first responders on site.”
3:22AM: Three @VancouverPD vehicles speed aggressively into a crowd of observers & first responders on site. (5/12) pic.twitter.com/9WvwuRdk3a
— VANDU (@VANDUpeople) September 23, 2022
They also allege that a first responder was knocked to the ground by a VPD officer, shown in this video:
3:24AM: @VancouverPD constable assaults first responder (in yellow) attending to the struck man, slams them into the concrete. Observers report that the responder’s equipment kit was broken in the process. (6/12) pic.twitter.com/PjpWvzm05p
— VANDU (@VANDUpeople) September 23, 2022
Earlier in the week, footage of the violent collision was captured on video surveillance and posted to YouTube.
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In a previous statement to Daily Hive, the VPD said it trusts the IIO investigation “will shed light what factors led to the collision, including the reason why the pedestrian was standing motionless in the middle of the road, why the officers did not see the person, the speed of the police vehicle, and other contributing factors.”
At a press release on Friday regarding an unrelated incident, VPD confirmed that the man struck by the car has since been released from the hospital. According to police, VANDU’s previous reporting of the incident was incorrect. VPD said they also provided medical aid on site.
The IIO is urging anyone with relevant information, dashcam or other video footage of the incident to contact the Witness Line toll-free at 1-855-446-8477 or via the contact form on the iiobc.ca website.
With files from Daily Hive Staff.