FORT FRANCES - Ontario Provincial Police in Atikokan have notified the Special Investigations Unit after a 37-year-old male prisoner reportedly died while in police custody on Sunday.
In a news release issued Tuesday, Oct. 20, OPP in Atikokan said they responded to a male who was allegedly violating his bail conditions on Sunday, Oct. 18 just before 6:30 p.m.
Police say they located the 37-year-old man on Mercury Avenue East and placed him under arrest after a brief struggle and transported him to Atikokan OPP where he remained in police custody in a cell.
At around 9:30 p.m. police say the man went into medical distress. The Special Investigations Unit said the man was observed by police going into distress, approximately an hour and a half after being placed in his cell. First aid was performed and he was transported to the hospital and later pronounced deceased just before 11 p.m.
OPP notified the SIU which invoked its mandate. A post-mortem is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Toronto.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the SIU at 1-800-787-8529.
—This story was updated at 2:38 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, to include updated information from the Special Investigations Unit.
