No charges will be laid after the provincial police watchdog ruled the response of RCMP did not contribute to the death of a man while he was in police custody.
On May 11, 2017, officers entered and searched a residence in Fort McMurray as part of a drug trafficking investigation. Inside they found a man behind a locked door. The officers negotiated for the man to come out from behind the door and he was subsequently arrested, taken into custody and transported to a holding facility where he later died after asking to call his lawyer.
On May 13, 2017 the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.
“An autopsy determined the cause of death was cocaine and fentanyl toxicity. Post-mortem toxicology reports revelaed a potentially lethal level of cocaine in the man’s bloodstream,” said an ASIRT news release on Monday.
The release said ASIRT reviewed witness testimony, hours of CCTV footage and the autopsy report. The watchdog said it is unable to tell for certain, but they believe the man attempted to conceal drugs by hiding them in his body before police arrested him.
The release said officers alongside EMS personnel attended to the man’s health on a number of occasions while he was in custody.
“While the man’s death is unquestionably tragic, the actions of the officers who dealt with him demonstrated concern for his well-being and responsiveness to his medical needs,” said the release.