A coroners’ inquest is being held for a man who died after an encounter with Burnaby RCMP at an apartment in 2014.
On Thursday, the B.C. Coroners Service announced an inquest will be held into the death of Maurizio Angelo Facchin, a 50-year-old Vancouver man who died on June 4, 2014.
It will take place in Burnaby on Oct. 17, 2016.
The incident began in the afternoon of June 4 when Burnaby RCMP officers were called to an apartment on Walker Avenue to deal with a person who had broken a window.
Once there, police were told the man inside was an extremely large ex-football player and had been using drugs and booze. The three RCMP members made their way into the apartment where they were confronted by the suspect, who attacked one of the officers. During a struggle, police used a taser (conducted energy weapon, or CEW) and a lateral neck restraint, eventually getting the man to the ground. It's at that point, the man went into medical distress and eventually died.
A B.C. Coroners press release noted presiding coroner Isis Van Loon and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding his death. The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances.
In March, the province's Criminal Justice Branch announced there will be no charges against the RCMP officers in the case.
The details of the investigation into the police handling of the incident was detailed in a media statement from the branch.
"After reviewing the available evidence in its entirety, Crown counsel concluded that the evidence is not sufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the police officers used more force than was reasonably necessary to subdue and restrain the suspect, including their use of physical restraint, a CEW, a carotid neck restraint and, eventually, handcuffs," the report stated.
