THUNDER BAY – A Thunder Bay police officer has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the 2020 death of a 55-year-old man that came the day after being in police custody.
A report released Tuesday by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario’s independent police watchdog, determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe the officer had committed either criminal negligence or failure to provide the necessities of life.
The decision reviewed an incident on Nov. 4, 2020, in which officers with the Thunder Bay Police Service transported a man they believed to be intoxicated to his mother’s residence, before later calling for an ambulance.
The man died in hospital the following day. An autopsy suggested the man's death was caused by a brain hemorrhage from a blunt impact to the head.
In his decision, SIU director Joseph Martino found there was a possibility a fall suffered by the man could have caused his death, but that officers had nonetheless acted with reasonable care.
Two SIU investigators and one forensic investigator were assigned to the case, interviewing two civilian witnesses and three witness officers, and reviewing a variety of other evidence.
The police officer who was the subject of the investigation declined to be interviewed or to provide notes, as he was legally entitled to do.
Police were dispatched to a plaza across from the Intercity Shopping Centre around 4 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2020, responding to a call from a security guard reporting a woman lying down behind a dumpster.
As they were dealing with that incident, police were asked for assistance by paramedics responding to a separate incident nearby.
According to the SIU decision, which reviewed a report from Superior North EMS, the paramedics were assisting a male who appeared to be intoxicated by the bank of the Neebing McIntyre Floodway, behind a plaza containing an LCBO and Tbaytel location.
“As the male was being difficult and refusing to be taken to hospital, the paramedic requested [the] officers’ intervention,” the report reads.
The man told police he was intoxicated, did not wish to go the hospital and wanted simply to be taken home, the report states.
While he showed signs of intoxication including slurred speech, he was able to identify himself, stand and, with the help of an officer, walk toward a cruiser.
The paramedics then left the scene.
At one point, the man fell over and appeared unconscious, but soon roused again, the report says. He remained unsteady but was “otherwise without apparent physical injury” and able to walk to the cruiser of the officer under investigation in the case, with help.
The SIU report finds the officers acted reasonably in taking the man to his mother’s house, rather than to hospital, noting he had clearly communicated that was his wish and had been assessed by paramedics.
“Aside from evidence that the complainant informed the officers that he had been drinking, he displayed hallmarks of alcohol intoxication: slurred speech, unsteadiness, and drowsiness,” it reads.
“As it turns out, it may well be that these symptoms were the result of an intracranial bleed, a serious condition requiring immediate medical attention. However, paramedics had already been to the scene and, though they found it difficult to assess him, were content to have the complainant driven home by the officers.”
GPS data from the police cruiser shows it arrived at the mother’s house at 4:45 p.m.
At that time, the man was found to be non-verbal, drowsy, and drooling from the mouth by police officers. An ambulance was called to the scene and arrived at 5:01 p.m.
Another officer had asked a dispatcher to check on the availability of a detox bed, but was informed none were available.
After being transported to hospital, the man was diagnosed with a brain bleed, suffered a brain injury, and died on Nov. 5, 2020.
An autopsy found the man’s death was attributable to an acute subdural hemorrhage due to blunt impact to the right side of the head, consistent with a single impact.
The Thunder Bay Police Service informed the SIU of the man’s death on Nov. 9, the same day the force was itself informed of his death.
The decision concludes that a police officer referred to as “Witness Officer #1” might have been inattentive in allowing the man to fall while in custody, potentially causing his death, but that his behaviour was still reasonable.
“It may well be that [the officer] ought to have taken greater care to ensure that a seemingly inebriated individual not fall while in his custody,” the report reads.
“That said, in the context of the totality of the evidence, indicating that [the officer] was otherwise careful with the complainant, assisting him from the ground and supporting him while he was on his feet, the officer’s indiscretion is best characterized as a momentary lapse in judgment, short of a marked deviation from a reasonable level of care.”
The SIU decision was reached on April 14 and released Tuesday.
