RCMP have crossed the line by suggesting a First Nations man was lying on the highway when he was killed in a hit and run accident, family and tribal council members claim.
In dual statements to The Daily News on Wednesday, the family of Craig Sauls, 29, and the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council accuse the RCMP of drawing premature and racist conclusions in his death.
Investigators believe Sauls was lying on the Trans-Canada Highway near the intersection at Coburn Road near Chase when he was killed early Saturday morning.
But family friend Mavis Erickson wonders if police would draw the same conclusion if Sauls were a white, middle-class man who was walking home to Sahali, she said Wednesday.
“It’s all but racism,” said Erickson. “It just seems so speculative. To me its like blame the victim and let’s just close this case.”
Perhaps Sauls was knocked down by a vehicle and then run over by another vehicle, she said.
Police suggest the driver might not know he or she ran anyone over. Erickson said that creates an excuse for the driver.
In a press release from the Shuswap Nations Tribal Council, tribal leader Wayne Christian said the RCMP’s findings belong in the 1950s.
He said Sauls was a young and loving father to his daughter, Aya, 2, and known in the community as a gentle soul with a tremendous sense of humour.
Erickson said Sauls and his common-law wife, Jennifer Michel, are hard working people with a home and a mortgage on the Little Shuswap Indian Reserve.
Chase RCMP Sgt. Troy Beauregard said police form their conclusions from evidence found at the scene. The injuries Sauls suffered suggest he was lying on the road when he was killed.
Cpl. Mike O’Flynn of Central Interior Traffic Services said Sauls was wearing a white jacket, and should have been visible if he was upright. Lying on the ground, he would be difficult to see.
Erickson said the family implores the motorist who ran over Sauls to turn him or herself into police.
“The family wants closure,” she said.
RCMP want the same. Motorists driving in the area at about 1 a.m. Saturday are asked to phone O'Flynn at 250-828-3159.
He asked anyone who saw Sauls Friday night to phone police and help piece together what happened to him in the hours before his death.
