REGINA — A 58-year-old man died while in custody of Broadview RCMP Tuesday, and the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has opened an investigation.
Upon receiving notification, a team consisting of five SIRT investigators was deployed to Broadview. SIRT's investigation will examine the conduct of police during this incident, including the circumstances surrounding the man's death.
A final report will be issued to the public within 90 days of the investigation ending.
What follows is the Broadview RCMP’s account of the incident:
Boardview RCMP received a call at 4:27 p.m. July 6, reporting a male driver whose vehicle had become stuck in a ditch. The caller described the driver as intoxicated and belligerent and indicated that he would remain on scene helping redirect traffic until police arrived.
At 5:02 p.m., an RCMP member arrived at the location of the call where the vehicle was stuck in the ditch of a grid road near the town of Kipling. The driver, a 58-year-old male, was seated behind the wheel of the vehicle, and denied any injuries when questioned. The member attempted to obtain a roadside breath sample from the man, but when unable to do so, informed the man that he was under arrest for impaired driving and instructed him to exit the vehicle.
The man indicated he was unable to exit the vehicle and at 5:06 p.m., the RCMP member requested that EMS attend the scene as the man complained of shortness of breath.
A second RCMP member arrived at the scene. RCMP members and the initial caller, an acquaintance of the man, attempted to convince the man to voluntarily exit the vehicle. After verbal attempts to convince the man to exit the vehicle, he was removed from the vehicle and walked with assistance to a nearby RCMP vehicle, where he was placed inside at 5:18 p.m. At 5:24 p.m., the man, who had slumped over in the rear seat, was determined to be unresponsive and removed from the vehicle. RCMP members commenced CPR and continued until EMS arrived at 5:28 p.m. and assumed responsibility for the man's care. At 6:02 p.m., the man was pronounced deceased by EMS.
SIRT's mandate is to investigate alleged cases of serious injury, death, sexual assault or interpersonal violence arising from the actions or omissions of on and off-duty police officers, or while an individual is in police custody.
For updates on SIRT investigations, follow SIRT on X, formerly known as Twitter.
