Eaglechief inquest hears police stop strips could be ineffective on larger trucks

The stop strips police useto slow vehicles fleeing from officers in Saskatoon are relatively ineffective on larger vehicles like the one Austin Eaglechief was driving when tried to escape officers on June 19, 2017.

A coroner's inquest into Eaglechief's death is underway in a courtroom in Saskatoon.

Eaglechief died when the stolenChevrolet Silverado he was driving collided with another vehicle near Airport Drive while he fled from police at high speeds.

"It essentially was an explosion,"Cst. Brennen Carter told the inquest on Tuesday.

• Inquest called into death of Austin Eaglechief after Saskatoon police chase

Carter was pursuing Eaglechief after he had rammed a police cruiserduring a high-risk traffic stop minutes earlier at a cul-de-sac in Clearwater Place, pushing the cruiser out of the way with ease andinjuring police officer Cst. Allisha Stewart.

Testifying earlier in the day, Cst. Scott Bertrand, who arrived on scenewith Stewart, deemed Eaglechief a lethal threat and fired two shots at the vehicle, telling the inquest he had thought Stewart, who was his partner, had been run over and killed.

An autopsy determined Eaglechief did not die as a result of the gunshots.

Michael Seed, a member of Eaglechief's legal counselquestioned Carter about why police didn't attempt to use stop strips after he fled the traffic stop.

Carter claimed an attempt to stop the truck using stop sticks during an earlier pursuit was unsuccessful and noted police were told by commanding officer Staff Sgt. Richard Bueckert to avoid using stop sticks during the chase.

"Bueckert actually told everybody not to make any further attempts to throw stop sticks down," he said. "Because the size of the truck and the size of the tires, our normal stop sticks would likely not have had any effect and it just would have put other officers in danger."

Carter testified that he did have a set of larger stop sticks made to handle larger vehicles and tires, but said there was never an opportunity to use them, as he was behind Eaglechief during the pursuit.

Coroner Tim Hawryluk, who is overseeing the inquest, honed in on the lack of suitable stop sticks during the proceedings.

He asked Carter about the new, larger stop sticks, but Carter said they pose even more of a safety risk, as they take longer to deploy and put officers in a position of greater risk.

Carter also told Hawryluk the service is planning to phase out its smaller Ford Taurus' and will be transitioning to the larger Ford Explorer to ensure police vehicles are capable of physically matching a larger vehicle if needed.

Agatha Eaglechief, Austin's mother, was at the inquest's second day.

She feels police could have found an alternative way to apprehend her son as opposed to giving chase, saying ground officers should have backed off and let the Air Support Unit track Eaglechief's vehicle until it came to a stop.

She said she's ready for answers around her son's death.

"I just want to let it out ... but right now, I'm just strong and [I'll]keep strong for my family at home," she said.

Eleanore Sunchild, another member of Eaglechief's legal team,said the changes Carter mentioned around equipment at the SPS are a positive.

"It's good that something will come out of Austin's death and that his death won't be meaningless," she said."Hopefully, in the future, if there is another high-risk vehicle stop and vehicle chase that it's handled more effectively within the police service by using better communication and better equipped vehicles."

The inquest is set to continue Wednesday.