Nearly two years after a man died while in the custody of the Prince Albert Police Service a report has been released clearing officers of any wrongdoing.
Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team undertook an investigation into the death of a 40-year-old man who died after being arrested by police for his suspected involvement in a stolen vehicle.
The man was one of three people suspected to have stolen a vehicle in the city on April 1, 2023.
Police and the man would enter into an altercation when officers attempted to take him into custody.
Police say several intermediate weapons were used including a tazer, batons, and pepper spray.
After being arrested, the man would go into medical distress, dying a short time later.
The Serious Incident Response Team was called in to investigate the man’s death and the report was published this week.
The SIRT report says the man went into cardiac arrest after being taken into police custody because of a cocaine overdose.
While the report couldn’t rule out the use of a taser as contributing to the man’s death it says it was “unlikely” to be a contributing factor.
According to the SIRT report, there were no grounds to believe any offence was committed by the arresting officers.
The full report is available here – SIRT Report – April 1, 2023 Incident