Family suing RCMP
Everett Riley Patrick died in police custody
The family of a man who died while in the custody of the Prince George RCMP has filed a lawsuit seeking damages.
In a notice of claim filed April 20 – and exactly two years after the date of his death -– the wife, mother and daughters of Everett Riley Patrick are claiming police failed to “enforce reasonable standards of care” while he was in custody at the Prince George RCMP detachment.
Patrick was apprehended on April 12, 2020 after police were called to a break and enter at E&I Sports in the 1400 block of Third Avenue shortly after 4 a.m.
At the time, police said the suspect attempted to flee on foot but then retreated back into the store where he remained holed up while the North District RCMP emergency response team was called in and portions of Fourth Avenue and Brunswick Street were closed off.
About 3 1/2 hours later, Patrick was apprehended with the help of a police dog and transported to hospital for treatment of “minor wounds,” RCMP said at the time.
From there, he was taken back into RCMP custody and, at about 4 p.m. that day, was found in medical distress and taken back to hospital where he died eight days later.
According to the notice of claim, unnamed RCMP officers caused or contributed to Patrick’s death by assaulting him and failing to secure medical attention for him in a timely manner. The family, consisting of Patrick’s wife, mother and daughters, is claiming each of them have suffered nervous shock and other psychiatric and psychological fallout, including post traumatic stress disorder, as well as a “general loss of health, all as a foreseeable consequence of the conduct of the defendants and each of them.”
The family has also suffered “a loss of love and affection, care and consortium arising from the death of Everett Patrick,” according to the notice of claim.
As well as the RCMP, the federal and provincial governments and four unnamed RCMP officers are list as defendants.
In late March, B.C.’s civilian-based police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, said it has forwarded findings from its investigation of the matter to the B.C. Prosecution Service for consideration of criminal charges. Whether charges will be approved remains pending.
The defendants in the lawsuit, meanwhile, have not yet filed responses and the allegations the family has made have not yet been tested in court.