Police officer cleared in death of Cambridge man

Drug overdose was the cause of death, not officer’s actions

WATERLOO REGION — A Special Investigations Unit investigation has cleared a Waterloo Regional Police Service officer of wrongdoing following the cocaine overdose death of a Cambridge man in May 2017.

In a recently released decision, the unit’s director Tony Loparco stated there are no reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against the officer who used force to subdue and handcuff a 26-year-old man to enable paramedics to provide medical care.

In his report Loparco said while the officer had to apply force to place the man in handcuffs, the force used was appropriate and justified, and it was ultimately levels of acute cocaine toxicity that killed the Cambridge man.

“As the toxicology results confirm … there is no question on the facts here that the (man’s) tragic death was not caused by the actions of the (officer), who was acting at all times appropriately, professionally and in direct response to the emergency situation that was ongoing at that time for which both the other occupants of the residence and the paramedics were requesting his immediate assistance.”

In fact, the report indicated the occupants, who had called 911 for help, were relieved to see police subdue the man, who had become erratic and enraged.

Before police responded, residents of the home had wrestled with the man to control him, using a bear hug tactic to force him down on a couch and hold him until help arrived.

The report describes graphic details of the late evening’s frantic events.

The man, who had just completed a 45-day rehabilitation program and was struggling with drug addiction — including abuse of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and steroids — was under a heavy influence of drugs.

Stripped of his clothes, the man began hallucinating, believing his basement bedroom was filled with snakes.

“As the (man) was going upstairs, it was observed that he had a syringe stuck between his buttocks,” reads the report. “When this was pointed out to (him), he denied it and was obsessing that there were snakes everywhere.

“Once upstairs in the kitchen, (he) began to hallucinate and tried to leave the house, while the other occupants of the residence all tried to console and comfort (him) while preventing him from leaving the house.”

The residents of the home called 911 for help, seeking the opioid overdose, naloxone.

The man was still fighting back when paramedics arrived. Paramedics believed the man was still too violent to be treated and waited by the home’s front door for police to arrive.

Once the officer was able to place both of the man’s hands in handcuffs, a struggle which lasted less than 30 seconds, paramedics performed an assessment and determined the man was going into cardiac arrest, with vital signs absent.

The officer quickly removed handcuffs to allow paramedics to provide medical assistance, and the man was transported to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Waterloo Regional Police leaders notified the Special Investigations Unit, an arm’s length agency that investigates events involving the police that have resulted in death, serious injury, or reports of sexual assault.

There is no question on the facts here that the (man’s) tragic death was not caused by the actions of the (officer).