in May 2023 Michael McClelland and four associates broke into the Bottle-O, next to Bathgate Park, in Hillside Rd.
The four fled the scene and police in an unmarked police car pursued the vehicle for about one minute, covering 1.6kms, before abandoning the chase.
As police came to a stop, the car lost control and crashed into a power pole in Melbourne St, leading to the death of Mr McClelland.
An Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation was initiated into the crash, which found police officers should not have commenced a pursuit under the fleeing driver policy that applied at the time.
Additionally, the SouthComms dispatcher should have instructed the officers to abandon pursuit.
The officers did abandon the pursuit when it became dangerous.
Investigators concluded, however, that the police driving was not a direct cause of the crash.
Southern District Commander Superintendent Jason Guthrie said police conducted its own investigation into the matter.
‘‘This was a fast-moving and dynamic incident which lasted a matter of a couple of minutes, where staff were required to use split-second judgement.’’
He said this incident occurred only days before their pursuit policy changed, and wider staff had since received additional training.
‘‘Police’s investigation reached the same conclusion as the IPCA’s investigation – that our officer’s driving did not directly cause the vehicle to crash.
‘‘We would also like to acknowledge Michael’s family and the grief they must still feel, and extend our sympathies to them.’’
