No charges will be laid against Burnaby Mounties after an incident in September resulted in the death of a suspect.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. released a report on Dec. 17 regarding the conduct of police officers involved in an incident in North Burnaby in September. According to the report by Richard A. Rosenthal, chief civilian director at the office, there is no reasonable evidence to suggest Burnaby officers caused the eventual death of the suspect.
On Sept. 18, Burnaby RCMP was called to the 4200 block of Cambridge Street in North Burnaby after receiving reports of a break-in. When officers arrived on scene they found the suspect sitting on a curb. The officers put the suspect, a 27-year-old man, into the back of the police car and soon after he became unconscious, explained the report.
“From the passenger side of the police vehicle, (witness officer 1) observed the affected person slumped over, with his head down on the passenger side and his legs facing the driver’s side,” stated the report.
Officers told investigators that at this point, one of the responding officers opened the “passenger door and called out to the affected person, but got no response.”
According to Rosenthal’s report, the officers quickly removed the suspect from the vehicle and proceeded to do about 20 chest compressions before paramedics arrived on scene.
Paramedics took over the medical care of the suspect and took him to hospital where he died the following day, as previously reported by the NOW.
Rosenthal’s report also indicates that paramedics and police accounts of the incident were the same, and both noted the suspect had a number of lacerations on his hands. The lacerations were likely from the attempted break-in as witnesses inside the home that was targeted reported to the Independent Investigations Office the suspect was punching and banging his head against a window.
According to the report, B.C. Coroners Service’s found both MDMA, or Ecstasy, and Methamphetamines in the suspect’s blood. A preliminary autopsy on the suspect reported the immediate cause of death was “an anoxic brain injury resulting from a lack of blood or oxygen to the brain.”
According to Rosenthal’s report, there was no evidence of external or internal injuries to suggest the anoxic brain injury could have been caused by the responding RCMP officers.
The file into this investigation is now closed and no charges will be laid against any of the responding officers, the report concluded.
