Saskatoon police are investigating after a man in custody died Friday morning.
Police responded to a call Thursday around 9:30 p.m. about an intoxicated man in a parking lot in the 3300 block of Fairlight Drive. Emergency crews arrived and found the man, age 46, suffering from an injury to the head. According to Saskatoon police, the man refused treatment at the scene by MD Ambulance staff. He was then transported to St. Paul’s Hospital, where police say he again refused treatment.
The man was assessed and did not meet the requirement for admittance to the brief detoxification unit, so he was taken to police detention around 11 p.m.
During the regular cell check around 5:50 a.m., the man was found in medical distress. He was taken to hospital by MD Ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.
Saskatoon Police Service’s major crime unit is investigating and will be working with the man’s family. The Department of Justice was notified and has appointed the RCMP to overlook the investigation.
An autopsy will be conducted. The man’s name is not being released, pending notification of next of kin.
It is the second time this month that someone died while in police custody.
The investigation continues into the death of Brandon Travis Daniels, 19, who was arrested July 2 around 6:30 p.m. in downtown Saskatoon. He was sitting on a bench and vomiting, and was taken into custody for possible public drunkenness, police said at the time of Daniels’ death. Around 6:30 a.m. on July 3, Daniels was found dead in the police detention unit.
Daniels’ mother told The StarPhoenix that her son was on medication for an undiagnosed illness.
An autopsy could not determine the cause of death. Major crime investigators are waiting for the results of a toxicology report, which could take up to four months to receive. A coroner’s inquest will be held after that.
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