Central Saanich police and a jail guard have been cleared of negligence causing the heart attack of a man in custody last August.
In a report released last week, the Independent Investigations Office determined there was no wrongdoing in the treatment of the man, being held overnight for breaching conditions of his release.
“There is no evidence in this case of any negligence on the part of any officer, or of the jail guard, who is a civilian employee of the municipality,” Ronald MacDonald, chief civilian director of the police watchdog, wrote in his report. “Cell checks were conducted regularly and in a manner closely approximating policy standards.”
The man had been arrested twice on Aug. 7, the first time for alleged domestic abuse and later that day for breaching the conditions of a release following the first arrest.
When Central Saanich Police took him into custody the second time, they noticed he had been injured — his eye was swollen. When asked about it, the man said he fell a lot.
The man was placed in a cell at 7:24 p.m. and paramedics were called to tend to his injuries. The man declined hospital treatment, and the cell door was locked at 7:45 p.m.
According to MacDonald’s report, regular checks were made on the cell at intervals of 15-20 minutes — Central Saanich policy is to check on detainees every 15 minutes.
There were occasions when there was no guard on the cell block as a result of the guard taking a bathroom break.
MacDonald’s report said jail-cell video shows the first sign of medical distress occurred around 6:36 a.m., when the man appeared to have a seizure. At that time, the jail guard was not on the cell block.
Shortly before 6:39 a.m., the guard returned to the monitors and went to check on the man in the cell, but before 6:40 a.m. two officers entered the cell block to attempt to rouse the man.
MacDonald’s report suggests the officers then performed chest compressions and applied an automatic defibrillator to the man’s chest.
At 6:56 a.m., paramedics were at the scene and the man was transported to hospital, where it was determined he suffered from cardiomyopathy and a brain injury due to anoxia, or lack of oxygen, during a heart attack.
The man remains in hospital care.
In his report, MacDonald said no blame can be put on a guard leaving his post to use the washroom. He also noted the medical distress was noticed quickly and “appropriate efforts were made to render medical assistance and summon medical professionals.”
“I do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and therefore the matter will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges,” MacDonald said.
