Ontario’s police watchdog says officers with Guelph police did not cause the death of a 49-year-old man in July and have cleared them of any wrongdoing.
The man was found unresponsive in the early hours of July 21 inside an apartment building near Waterloo and Beechwood avenues.
Prior to police arriving, the man was “vital signs absent” and friends of the man performed CPR and administered nasal and injectable naloxone, according to the Special Investigations Unit.
In a statement released Tuesday, the SIU said when police arrived, one of the officers took over CPR while one of the friends administered another dose of nalaxone nasal spray.
Paramedics later pronounced the man dead at the scene. The SIU said they are still awaiting the results of a toxicology test to determine the cause of death.
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“By the time officers arrived, the man had been vital signs absent for some time and unresponsive to the attempts made by his friends and others to revive him,” said Joseph Martino, acting director of the SIU. “It is clear that none of the officers caused or contributed to the man’s death.”
The SIU is still investigating a similar death after a man was found unresponsive at Guelph Central Station on July 6.
Officers administered naloxone and performed CPR, but the man later died in hospital.
The SIU is mandated to investigate incidents involving police where there has been serious injury or death, but the agency has been criticized for investigating incidents where police have administered naloxone to overdose victims.
BELOW: A 36-year-old man administered naloxone by Peel Regional Police on Monday didn’t survive. Now the province’s police watchdog is investigating.
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