Source: SiRT webpage
The Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) has concluded its investigation into the death of a man who went into medical distress while in custody at the Digby RCMP detachment, finding no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges.
RCMP officers had responded to a report of an intoxicated man found lying in the snow behind a mall in Digby on the afternoon of February 10. The man was arrested under the Liquor Control Act for public intoxication and held overnight in cells.
According to SiRT, the next morning the man hit his head while in custody and became unresponsive. Emergency Health Services were called and paramedics provided care before transporting him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy later determined the cause of death to be natural, including an upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to chronic ethanol use.
The RCMP notified SiRT the following day, and the independent agency began its investigation immediately. The SiRT Director has now concluded that there is no evidence suggesting police actions contributed to the man’s death in a criminal way.
