ST. PAUL - The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says it is continuing to investigate the death of a man while he was in RCMP custody in St. Paul.
On Jan. 10, ASIRT was directed to investigate the death of a 25-year-old man. The man died earlier that day when he was in the custody of St. Paul RCMP.
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The man had been arrested on outstanding warrants earlier that same morning after police responded to a call of suspicious people allegedly looking into vehicles in a neighbourhood on the west end of St. Paul.
"The man was cooperative with the officer. He was searched and put into a police vehicle. He was then taken to the St. Paul RCMP detachment, arriving at 6:33 a.m., and was placed into a cell to wait for a bail hearing," reads an updated media release from ASIRT. "No one else was in this cell, which was monitored by a guard throughout the day."
At 6:20 p.m., the man asked for coffee and was given some, according to the information from ASIRT.
"A short time later, he appeared to be sleeping. At approximately 9 p.m., an officer entered the cell in order to allow the man to speak to duty counsel prior to his bail hearing. The man was unresponsive. Officers began life-saving efforts and called Emergency Medical Services, which arrived a short time later and took over care."
Efforts to revive the man were unsuccessful and he was pronounced deceased at about 9:45 p.m.
An autopsy was conducted on Jan. 13. Full results of that autopsy, including toxicology results, are pending and will be incorporated into the investigation.
"No additional information will be released at this time," according to ASIRT.
The name of the man has not been released.
