The province’s police watchdog has cleared officers of any wrongdoing in relation to a 2022 incident in Abbotsford in which a man stopped breathing during an arrest.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of B.C. released its findings on Tuesday (June 25).
The incident in question took place in the early-morning hours of Sept. 8, 2022 when police responded to a call from a convenience store.
The IIO report states that an employee was working the overnight shift alone when a man entered the store, took some energy drinks and protein bars, and left without paying. The worker hung up from 911 and, when a dispatcher called back, he told them what happened and said police were no longer needed.
Shortly afterwards, a security officer noticed the suspect standing in front of the store. The man was “sweating profusely and was holding his fists up like a boxer, challenging someone to fight, even though no one else was present,” the IIO documents state.
The security officer saw the suspect consume three of the four energy drinks he had stolen.
The suspect then went back into the store yelling, stole more cans from the fridge and left the store.
The worker locked the front door and again called 911. The suspect pulled at the door, yelled and threw a wooden pallet, the IIO report states.
The man then consumed four more energy drinks and removed his jacket, under which he was not wearing a shirt.
When police arrived, they approached the man “in an unaggressive manner,” the IIO report says.
The suspect ran away and, when police caught up to him, he began struggling with them and punching at them.
“(The suspect) is a large man and even with two officers on each arm, he was proving difficult to control, and was screaming and yelling incoherently,” the IIO documents state.
One officer delivered three knee strikes to the man's thigh, but it had no effect, the report indicates.
A conducted energy weapon was then used three times, but it also was not effective. Police called in paramedics so that the man could be sedated.
“Officers were able to get (him) into handcuffs, using two linked sets, and then continued to struggle to restrain him on the ground,” the IIO report says.
“Cellphone evidence taken by police shows (the man) still attempting to wriggle free as an officer tells him that an ambulance is on its way, and to relax and stop fighting.”
An officer who brought a blanket to put under the man’s face and protect it from injury noticed that he had stopped breathing.
The IIO report says the man had no pulse and was turned onto his back and chest compressions were started. Paramedics arrived and took over, and the man was taken to hospital.
The IIO says the man required sedation in hospital until Sept. 13, and toxicology tests indicated the presence of amphetamines.
He remained in hospital until Sept. 21, when he left against medical advice with an IV still attached. He returned later that day to have the line removed and then left again.
The IIO concluded that the responding officers “were acting in lawful execution of their duty in arresting (the man), and in using a reasonable degree of force to do so.”
Witness reports confirmed that officers approached the man “in a calm and non-confrontational manner” and video evidence showed he “continued to struggle vigorously even after being taken to the group and held by several officers.”
“The use of the CEW (conducted energy weapon) in these circumstances is reasonable, and there is no evidence that any unnecessary or excessive force was applied to (the man),” the IIO stated.
The agency said the man’s medical distress was discovered by the officer who had brought the blanket, and police “responded promptly” to provide medial aid, likely saving his life.
No charges against officers will be recommended to Crown counsel, the report concludes.
The IIO is a civilian-led agency that investigates police-involved incidents of death or serious harm.
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