Two Ontario men die in police custody

SIU investigates unrelated GTA, Markdale events

At virtually the same time in the early hours of Canada Day, two Southern Ontario men died soon after being handcuffed by police.

The first incident occurred in Markdale, 150 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

At 1:35 a . m., Ontario Provincial Police rushed to an address on Main Street West, the village’s primary thoroughfare.

There, paramedics were already attending to a man “in distress,” and they apparently had asked for police help.

Attending officers put handcuffs on the man, after which he went into what was described as “medical distress.”

He was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Markdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A Wednesday morning statement by law enforcement did not indicate why the man in Markdale was handcuffed or whether he was combative or under the influence of narcotics.

A mere 10 minutes after the Markdale incident, a remarkably similar event played out in downtown Toronto.

At 1:45 a.m., a 911 call alerted police to a car that had smashed through a rear fence on Earnscliffe Road, near St. Clair and Dufferin. The black sedan had plowed so far onto the property that it was found lodged in the house’s porch.

The male driver had abandoned the vehicle when police arrived, although he was quickly located a block away. He was handcuffed after what police described as an “interaction” and quickly went into “medical distress.”

The man was pronounced dead soon after being taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. As with the Markdale death, law enforcement did not indicate whether alcohol or drugs were a factor.

Both incidents are now under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario’s official police watchdog. Five investigators are probing the Markdale death and eight are analyzing the Toronto death.

The names and ages of both men have not been released.