Winnipeg police should not face charges in the death of a man who was taken into custody by officers responding to reports of a person walking into Main Street traffic last September, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba says.
An autopsy concluded that the man died from a lack of oxygen to his brain and a coronary artery disease, says a report released Thursday by the police watchdog agency, but an enlarged heart, as well as cocaine and meth use, were contributing factors.
According to the report — which is dated April 28, 2024, but was released along with another report on Thursday — Winnipeg police said officers responded to a well-being call on Sept. 2, 2023, after a man was reportedly seen walking into Main Street traffic near Alexander Avenue around noon that day.
The man was seen “swinging a belt and attacking passing vehicles, causing traffic to swerve,” police told the investigative unit. He appeared to be under the influence of drugs and was “acting aggressive and erratic” when officers found him nearby on the median of Main Street, the IIU’s report says.
Officers handcuffed the man out of safety concerns. He had a “dried orange-coloured substance” around his mouth, was yelling names of people, said he couldn’t breathe and admitted to officers that he had ingested crack cocaine and meth earlier that day, according to the report.
Officers repositioned the man to help him breathe and called an ambulance after determining that he was experiencing a medical emergency. He kept yelling and moving erratically on the median.
A medical supervisor was called after officers decided the man needed sedation. He was sedated and put on a stretcher, to which he was handcuffed because of his aggressive behaviour, the report says.
‘He’s stopping traffic’: 911 call
The paramedic supervisor asked for the man’s handcuffs to be removed after his condition began to deteriorate, and he was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Police learned the next day that the man was in a medically induced coma, on life support and was experiencing complete organ failure, including heart failure and collapsed lungs. He was heavily medicated and not expected to live, police were told.
As part of its investigation, the Independent Investigation Unit reviewed 911 audio and security footage. They also interviewed or obtained statements from two civilian witnesses, four members of the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, and four police officers.
One civilian witness said she did not see officers use any force on the man other than to hold him down.
The other civilian witness, who called 911 after seeing the man walking into traffic, said there were some “close calls” as vehicles had to move out of the man’s way.
“Oh God, oh my God. A car had to swerve. Cars are stopping. He’s stopping traffic,” the woman said in the 911 call, according to the report.
She also described the man as a harm to himself and to others during the incident.
“The evidence demonstrates that the police officers restrained [the man] by using their hands,” and handcuffing the man for his own protection was the only force that they used against him, IIU civilian director Roxanne Gagné wrote in her report.
The man “was behaving erratically and needed medical assistance, as he was a danger to himself and the public,” she wrote.
“I am satisfied that the officers’ actions were reasonable in the circumstances,” she wrote, recommending no charges be laid against any of the officers involved.