Autistic boy’s skull fractured in clash with police: watchdog

Alberta’s police watchdog says the Calgary boy injured in a struggle with police fractured his skull “while in the care of members of the Calgary Police Service.”

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate how the child, who has been identified by Global News as 12-year-old Jack Parcells, sustained his injuries.

In a written statement issued Friday, ASIRT said Calgary police officers were called to the southwest community of Cougar Ridge around 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday after the boy’s parents called police for help when their son became “uncontrollable and causing damage within the residence.”

Calgary police told Postmedia the service was notified the boy has autism. ASIRT says the boy “sustained a serious head injury” while the two officers were escorting him to their cruiser.

“At the time, the youth was struggling with officers, was not handcuffed and had not yet been placed in the police vehicle,” ASIRT said in a release. “EMS was contacted, and transported the youth to hospital, where the boy ’s parents were advised that he had suffered a fracture to his skull.”

The agency said officers were advised that the youth had been in the care of other family members for several days “and exhibited behavioural concerns upon returning to his parents.”

Police believe the boy may have been off his medication for several days and “was confined to his locked bedroom at the time of the call.”

A police spokesman said the boy was being taken into police custody for a transfer to a hospital when he became unco-operative.

Parcells’ parents, Doug and Mary Ann, alleged to Global News that a police officer slammed their son to the ground, causing him to suffer a fractured skull, partial hearing loss and other external injuries.

Calgary Police said in a statement: “We completely support the independent investigation to learn what happened and will co-operate fully. This incident did not have the outcome that anyone involved wanted, and anything that can be learned through the investigation to prevent similar incidents in the future will be valuable.”