siu clears ottawa officer in death of 'agitated, impaired' man in september
joseph martino, director of the special investigations unit, concluded that while the man's cause of death has not yet been determined, it was not caused by the police officer's conduct.
jan 10 2024
3 minute read
the logo of ontario's special investigations unit.
ashley fraser
/
postmedia
ontario’s police watchdog agency has cleared an ottawa police service officer of wrongdoing in the death of a 41-year-old man who was in “medical distress” after interacting with police in september.
in the early morning of sept. 12, police officers went to an apartment building on mcewen avenue just east of the britannia conservation area, responding to a call about a naked man in the basement.
a news release from the special investigations unit on wednesday said the unidentified man “ appeared confused, agitated and impaired” and “was unable to answer officers’ questions.” officers then handcuffed the man, realized he was in medical distress and called for an ambulance. paramedics took the man to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
joseph martino, director of the special investigations unit, concluded that, while the cause of the man’s death had not yet been determined, it was not caused by the police officer’s conduct.
according to the siu report, security camera video showed the man appearing to be “ confused, agitated, and impaired” as he paced up and down the hallway of the apartment building and taking his clothes off before police arrived.
ottawa police responded to a call of an “unknown naked man” in the building’s laundry room shortly after 5:30 a.m. upon arrival, officers said the man, who had attended a party in the building earlier, was “exh ibiting symptoms of excited delirium.”
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police called paramedics and handcuffed the man, martino’s report said.
“ by the time of the officers’ arrival in the stairwell, the complainant was sweating profusely and warm to the touch,” martino wrote. “he was unable to answer their questions, but did not resist when the officers secured him in handcuffs behind the back.”
the man chatted with officers and was “calm and cooperative” while waiting for the paramedics to arrive, but his condition deteriorated, the report said, and by about 5:48 a.m. “ his breathing was becoming more laboured, his pallor was grey, and white foam was coming from his mouth.”
when paramedics arrived around 5:51 a.m., the man was led through the building lobby, where he “became limp, collapsed, and went vital signs absent,” the report read.
paramedics placed the man on his back and removed the handcuffs moments before he lost his vital signs, the report said. paramedics then applied a resuscitation airbag and performed cpr. the man was taken to queensway-carleton hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly at 6:42 a.m.
the cause of death is pending the results of a toxicology analysis, the report said, but was “ suspected of being drug toxicity.”
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the police watchdog found no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against the police officer.
“ while the decision to handcuff the complainant is subject to scrutiny, it did not depart markedly from a reasonable standard of care,” martino wrote. “on the one hand, securing the complainant’s arms behind his back might have made it harder for him to breathe. on the other hand, the (officer’s) justification for doing so, namely, to ensure the safety of the officers and the complainant, was not without merit.”
the police watchdog interviewed four civilian witnesses, the subject officer and two other “witness officials” and reviewed their notes.
the siu is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers, special constables with the niagara parks commission and peace officers with the legislative protective service that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
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