ST. PAUL - The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has released its decision regarding an incident that happened on July 31, 2018, at a hotel in St. Paul, resulting in the death of an adult man. All involved officers were found to have acted lawfully in their duties.
"After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of all involved officers, it is my opinion that they were clearly lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of their duties," reads the decision, signed by ASIRT Executive Director Michael Ewenson on May 3, 2022. "There is no evidence to support any inference that police engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to an offence. The force used was necessary and reasonable in all the circumstances, notwithstanding the tragic outcome."
ASIRT became involved with the investigation on the day the man's death occurred. The man's name was not released by police when the incident occurred, and was also not included in the more recent ASIRT decision.
St. Paul RCMP officers responded to a call at the Hampton Inn in St. Paul at about 1:49 a.m., after receiving a 911 call from a civilian witness, who was also the night clerk at the hotel. It was reported that a guest was damaging vehicles in the parking lot and breaking windows at the front of the hotel. A second call was made by the clerk, noting the guest was in the lobby of the hotel, allegedly damaging property.
Two RCMP officers responded to the call, arriving about 10 minutes later. When police arrived, the man was said to be behind the counter in the lobby of the hotel, and was only wearing a pair of shorts, according to the ASIRT report.
"Efforts to speak with the affected person were not successful. When the officers attempted to arrest him, he resisted, a physical altercation occurred, and the affected person retreated into a storage room in the office adjacent to the front counter of the hotel," reads the document. During the altercation with police, one of the officers, referred to in the report as Subject Officer #2, deployed a Conductive Energy Weapon (CEW), more commonly known as a taser.
The man came out of the room and a physical altercation happened with the other responding officer, "during which the affected person picked up a pair of scissors from the desk." The Subject Officer #2 attempted to help by deploying a second CEW cartridge, "which did no incapacitate the affected person."
"The affected person overpowered the officers, pushing past Subject Officer #2 and chasing Subject Officer #1 from the office, swinging at and striking her several times. The affected person pinned Subject Officer #1 against the wall in a convenience store alcove beside the front counter." The officer was reportedly hit several times by the man in the head, face, back and chest and was bleeding from her mouth, according to ASIRT.
Subject Officer #2 then deployed a third CEW cartridge, which had minimal impact on the man. The officer then deployed the CEW in "touch stun mode" but the man continued to resist. "Subject Officer #2 reported the affected person grabbed the CEW during the altercation which resulted in the officer being shocked as well," according to the report.
"Several kicks and punches were deployed during the altercation and a lateral neck restraint was attempted while trying to gain control and bring the affected person to the ground. After struggling while on the ground, the affected person stopped resisting. The subject officers held the affected person down until an additional officer... arrived and handcuffs could be applied. Once restrained, the affected person was found to be in medical distress," according to the ASIRT document.
First aid and CPR were initiated by officers until EMS personnel arrived on scene. The man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced deceased upon arrival.
In the report, an interview with the night clerk described how the man appeared to be acting normal when he checked in with a woman at the hotel at about 11 p.m. At about 1:30 a.m., the woman reported to the clerk that the man was acting strange. The man reportedly was sitting on top of a vehicle outside, wearing only shorts.
The woman reported that she was told by the responding officers to go away, as the altercation took place, so she went back to her room. When she returned, the man was laying on the ground, not moving. According to the woman, she had been in a relationship with the man for about four years, and he had not been drinking any alcohol that night, and she was not aware of any drugs being used.
Cause of death
A final autopsy report was received by ASIRT on April 8, 2019. The report noted multiple elements of injury, but the blunt force injuries were "not associated with internal trauma... that would account for the affected person's death."
The sites of CEW injury did not account fo the affected person's death either, according to the autopsy. There was also no major neck injury noted, although the video evidence did indicate neck compression occurred.
"Toxicology was performed... This testing showed cocaine use by the affected person prior to death, alcohol screening was negative. Presence of acetaminophen and codeine were also noted, neither of which were at levels that were causative or contributory to death in this case," reads the ASIRT document.
The autopsy results showed that "based the circumstances, investigative information, history, and autopsy findings, the affected person died as a result of excited delirium syndrome that occurred secondary to cocaine toxicity. Struggle during attempted police restraint and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease were significant contributory conditions."
In conclusion, the report states "the subject officers were lawfully placed and acting in the execution of their duties," and "The force used was reasonably necessary and proportionate."
The ASIRT report adds, "Everything that could reasonably have been done was done to attempt to resolve the situation without serious injury or death to the affected person. Unfortunately, Excited Delirium Syndrome as a result of cocaine toxicity was not something the subject officers could control."
