Investigation into police's handling of Soho Road crash suspect after 'incidents' before fatal smash
An official investigation has begun into West Midlands Police's handling of a man who was later arrested, following a fatal car crash in Birmingham.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has revealed that the suspect was involved in a number of incidents at a health unit on February 17th - the day before the crash on Soho Road in Handsworth.The police force has referred itself to the watchdog over how it dealt with the calls made from the unit on February 17th.
The IOPC will examine whether 'opportunities were missed to prevent what happened the following day'.
Hizar Hanif, a 31-year old father-of-one, died when an Audi collided with his parked car and several other vehicles at around 8:20pm on February 18th.
A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and later released under investigation.An IOPC spokesman said:
"We can confirm that we have started an investigation into West Midlands Police's response to a number of alleged incidents reported to them before a fatal collision in Handsworth, Birmingham, on February 18".
"Our investigation follows West Midlands Police’s mandatory referral of a complaint about how police dealt with calls reporting incidents at a health unit on February 17"."We have been told that a man involved in those incidents was arrested in connection with a traffic collision in Soho Road the following day, in which a man died. We understand that another person was also seriously injured when a car struck a number of parked vehicles.IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell added:
"My sympathies are with the family of the man who died and everyone else affected by this terrible incident. Our investigation, which is at a very early stage, will consider the prior police contact and whether opportunities were missed to prevent what happened the following day."
Mr Hanif from Handsworth was sitting with his best friend when the white Audi crashed into them. He ran Checkpoint Tyres in Aston and was due to act as best man at a friend's wedding later that week.Abbas Hanif, 24, described his older brother as the "best, kind, polite and caring". His grieving wife said in a poignant tribute: "Hizar was the most driven and passionate person I knew."He went above and beyond for his family and friends, everyone who knew him loved him. His smile will be greatly missed, the way it lit his face and made his eyes sparkle"."His cute little laugh and the way he made me feel safe and loved, Hizar was truly one of a kind. He accomplished so much in the little time he was given and made the most of life"."We travelled the world and we created memories, we laughed endlessly and mostly we lived. He had so many dreams so much more he wanted to accomplish but his chapter sadly came to an end."