---
title: "Police use of force in 2025 West End parkade arrests was justified, B.C. watchdog finds"
description: "B.C.'s police oversight body reviewed a March 2025 incident at a Denman and Nelson Street parkade where officers rammed a fleeing vehicle and used a Taser. It found the force was justified and referred no charges."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/iio-west-end-parkade-arrests-force-justified-november-2026"
last_updated: "2026-11-08T20:54:46.902Z"
---

B.C.'s police oversight body has found that Vancouver police were justified in ramming a fleeing vehicle and using a Taser on its driver during a March 2025 arrest in the West End. The Independent Investigations Office released its finding on November 6, 2026.

The incident began on March 29, 2025, when a parking attendant called 911 to report a white Dodge Charger idling in the parkade at Denman and Nelson Streets for more than four hours. The car had five occupants wearing black clothes and black surgical masks. CTV News reported the IIO finding on November 7, 2026.

## What happened at the parkade

When uniformed officers arrived at around 8:40 p.m., the Dodge drove off at speed with tyres squealing. As it reached the ramp exit, one plain-clothes officer rammed it with her police vehicle in an attempt to block it. The Dodge pushed past and sped east on Nelson Street, turned onto Bidwell Street, and then crashed on Pendrell Street, striking a civilian car and then a parked vehicle.

Officers pinned the Dodge against a wall. The driver, identified in the IIO report only as the Affected Person, was moving inside the car and not responding to commands. One officer deployed a Taser on the driver because the driver appeared to be reaching toward the centre console. Officers then pulled the driver from the car; during handcuffing, one officer kicked the driver in the back to get him face down. Police found two handguns and a jerry can of gasoline inside the Dodge.

The IIO report noted the vehicle's licence plate was registered to a Dodge Challenger, a different make of car.

## What the IIO found

Chief Civilian Director Jessica Berglund released the report as IIO file 2025-084. She found the initial decision to investigate the suspicious vehicle was appropriate, the ram at the parkade exit was justified because the driver appeared likely to continue evading police on busy city streets, and the Taser deployment was not excessive given that the driver was moving erratically and not following commands after the crash.

The IIO's motor vehicle analysis found that the crash on Pendrell Street, not the police ram, caused the driver's serious head injuries. The driver had not been wearing a seat belt.

Berglund wrote: "The manner in which police acted in this case was reasonable in the circumstances." She found no reasonable grounds to believe any officer committed an offence and referred no charges to the BC Prosecution Service.

## What residents can do

The IIO publishes its completed reports at iiobc.ca. The report number is 2025-084. Residents can read the full analysis of how the finding was reached, including the evidence reviewed and the legal standard applied.

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