The Alberta police watchdog, Alberta Serious Incident Report Team (ASIRT), is investigating the death of a man who was in police custody prior to and during his demise.
The Edmonton Police Service received a call of a break and enter on Thursday downtown Edmonton at 104 Street and Jasper Avenue. A man who “appeared to be intoxicated in the area of the business where the break and enter was reported (was) travelling unsafely across Jasper Avenue,” police said in a news release Saturday.
Police arrested the man and put him in the back of a squad car and called Emergency Medical Services.
According to police, “a short time later, the male began to lose consciousness,” while he was still in the squad car. His handcuffs were removed and police provided medical assistance before transferring emergency medical assistance duties over to EMS when they arrived.
EMS took the man to the hospital where he was pronounced dead just after midnight.
No information was provided about the man’s identity or whether he was linked to the break and enter.