Prince Albert police Const. Tim Ballantyne died following a car crash just south of the city on Saturday. Prince Albert police Const. Tim Ballantyne died following a car crash just south of the city on Saturday. (Prince Albert Police Service)

A police officer from Prince Albert, Sask., is dead after being injured in a weekend car crash.

Const. Tim Ballantyne, 27, of the Prince Albert Police Service, was off duty and driving his own vehicle when it rolled on Highway 3 just south of Prince Albert at about 6 a.m. Saturday.

Police warned after the crash that road conditions along the stretch of highway were treacherous due to extremely icy conditions.

RCMP are still investigating what caused Ballantyne's vehicle to crash. He was the only person in the vehicle, police said.

"The Prince Albert Police Service have lost a member that was well liked — he will be sadly missed," Staff Sgt. Bill Chow said.

Chow said Ballantyne became a police officer through the Prince Albert force's aboriginal mentoring program, which is aimed at increasing the diversity of the city's police.

"He showed his perseverance to become a police officer," Chow said.

Ballantyne was originally from the small community of Deschambault Lake, about 140 kilometres west of the Manitoba town of Flin Flon.

He had been a police officer for five years, Chow said.