An investigation by Manitoba's police watchdog has cleared Winnipeg officers of wrongdoing in a fatal high-speed pursuit.
The Independent Investigation Unit says officers acted appropriately last November when they chased a Ford Explorer that was allegedly involved in two armed robberies.
The investigation report says the SUV was driving at speeds up to 160 km/h.
It says the officers temporarily lost sight of the vehicle, but saw it a minute later after it crashed.
The woman driver was pronounced dead in hospital, while a male passenger who fled on foot was arrested nearby.
The report says that a pathologist concluded the driver was intoxicated by cocaine and methamphetamine.
"They were justified to pursue this vehicle. While the road speeds were relatively high, traffic volumes were light and there were few pedestrians along the route," said the report prepared by the unit's civilian director, Zane Tessler.
It said evidence also included eyewitness accounts of the chase, video surveillance from a number of businesses, police recordings and GPS data from police vehicles.
The Independent Investigations Unit assumed responsibility for the review since the case involved a fatality.
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