Off-duty Mounties who allegedly sped, spun cars on highway not being charged

Two off-duty RCMP officers who allegedly partied and drank alcohol at a co-worker's house before jumping into cars and doing doughnuts on a highway have been cleared of charges "due to a lack of evidence."

The alleged incident happened June 30, 2017, but wasn't reported to RCMP management until early July, according to the Independent Investigation Unit, the police watchdog that examines all incidents having to do with police, whether on duty or off, in the province.

The IIU issued a news release on Friday saying it had looked into the complaint, which alleged the officers were impaired and raced around in their own vehicles before doing the spins on Highway 44.

The RCMP conducted an investigation and then notified the IIU,

​The IIU interviewed 11 witnesses who attended the party in the Rural Municipality of Whitemouth, but investigators were unable to locate any relevant video. It determined that, due to lack of evidence, neither officer will face any charges.

In his report on the investigation, IIU civilian director Zane Tessler noted the delay in reporting the incident significantly affected the ability of investigators to gather evidence.

As a result, an accurate measure of how much alcohol either officer drank at the party could not be determined. Investigators were also unable to determine how much might have been in their system at the time of driving, or  whether they had even driven the vehicles.