A no trespassing sign heading towards the Prince Albert Penitentiary grounds. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
There’s been an inmate death at the Prince Albert Penitentiary.
Correctional services say Curtis Robert Cozart died Wednesday night while in custody, officially pronounced at 11 p.M. after being taken to hospital by ambulance. The nature of his death has not been revealed.
The 30-year-old man had been seven months into serving a two-year, four month sentence.
Cozart’s offences includes assault with a weapon, assault use of force, and theft under $5,000. Based on a past Moose Jaw Police report, a man of the same age and name, from Moose Jaw, was arrested for similar charges in Sept. 2016 after encountering officers. At the time, he was wanted for a number of other charges and police said he ran away, but then stopped and confronted officers with a knife. A Taser was deployed twice but did not work, and the man then got onto a roof for around two hours “until Police negotiators convinced him to surrender peacefully,” police said.
The coroner and police have been notified and Correctonal Services Canada says it’s reviewing the circumstances of the death. CSC also says Cozart’s family has been notified of his death.
The last reported death from the penitentiary came after a riot in December.