SIU closes file on October 2018 death of man in London police custody

Nearly a year after a 55-year-old man died while in London police custody, the province’s police watchdog says there are “no reasonable grounds” to lay charges.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report into the incident found that the officer “acted at all times with due care and regard to the Complainant’s heatlh and safety throughout their interaction.”

According to the SIU, at roughly 9 p.m. on Oct. 11, 2018, police received a 911 call from a motorist reporting a Kia Forte in front of him was moving erratically. The caller continued following the vehicle and described to police how it was veering from side-to-side, drove into the oncoming lane of traffic, and knocked over construction barrels.

The Kia eventually travelled off Wonderland Road around Harry White Drive and ended up in a ditch. When police arrived on scene at roughly 9:30 p.m., the SIU reports that the driver of the Kia was awake and looking for paperwork.

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The SIU says the complainant was arrested and while being transported to the police station, he fell asleep and started snoring in the police cruiser. The complainant was found to be unresponsive at 10:20 p.m. and was pulled from the cruiser and placed on the floor where officers tried to use an automated external defibrillator (AED), began CPR, and called for an ambulance.

The complainant was pronounced dead in hospital and an autopsy attributed the death to “multi-drug toxicity” from fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, trazodone, and ethanol.