Alberta’s police watchdog says Calgary Police are not at fault for the death of a man in custody earlier this month.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says the man was arrested Oct. 18, after officers were called out to reports of a disturbance with a man acting erratically at a McDonald’s restaurant at 5222 – 130th Avenue S.E.
The ASIRT report says the man resisted arrest, and following a brief struggle was taken into custody on outstanding warrants, including ones for possession of drugs.
Officers initially found nothing on him but a secondary search at the Arrest Processing Section uncovered a small baggie with a green substance believed to be heroin or fentanyl.
The man was placed in a cell at approximately 8:30 a.m.
ASIRT says there were adequate periodic safety checks of the man at regular intervals.
Around 3:44 p.m., CCTV video shows the man reached between his legs and took something orally.
Around 4:33 p.m. he appears to have trouble breathing. Officers enter his cell, and an officer who was previously a paramedic begins CPR. A defibrillator is applied and the man is given oxygen and at 5:31 p.m. he was declared deceased.
An autopsy found no obvious cause of death, but the medical examiner is awaiting further toxicology information to determine the cause of death.
The ASIRT report concludes that there is no evidence that any officer caused or contributed to the man’s death.
— with files from the Canadian Press