Winnipeg police officers not at fault for death of man after arrest, IIU finds
Cause of death determined to be man's enlarged heart and mix of meth, cocaine, alcohol
Winnipeg police officers who arrested a man who then went into medical distress and later died were not at fault, an investigation by Manitoba's police watchdog has found.
Around 3:45 p.m. on July 14, 2019, near the city's Dufferin neighbourhood, police saw a man who was bleeding from his head and appeared to be armed. An officer chased him briefly, and arrested the man, according to a report by the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.
An ambulance was called for the man, as he was bleeding and appeared agitated. Then, the IIU's report says, the man suddenly became unresponsive, and a police officer started performing CPR until paramedics arrived. The man was sent to hospital, and was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination determined that the man's death was due to the effects of meth, cocaine and ethanol. Other contributing factors were physiological stress from the chase and arrest, and cardiomegaly — an enlarged heart.
No actions by any of the police officers involved "had any causal connection to the death," the IIU said.