RCMP not at fault for death of alleged Penticton pizza thief, says provincial watchdog

Photo: Contributed

A B.C. RCMP officer has been cleared of wrongdoing after a man who stole two frozen pizzas in Penticton died following his interaction with police. 

An Independent Investigations Office report states the unnamed man's death was related to pre-existing medical conditions, rather than injuries sustained during his arrest.

On the morning of November 8, 2019, an officer responded to a call from a Penticton convenience store that a man had stolen two frozen pizzas. 

According to the IIO report, the officer attempted to stop the suspect on the road nearby, and eventually arrested the man after a foot chase. 

Video from the arrest shows that the suspect "fell across the curb on his right side, and [the officer] held him down by kneeling on his back or buttocks area."

More officers arrived, and the man was put in handcuffs. A nearby witness told IIO that the man had not been resisting, but just "trying ... to get up and walk away."

Other witnesses described no excessive force being used. 

The man was transported to hospital and detained under a Mental Health Act certificate, then left the hospital without permission later the same day, only to be returned by RCMP. 

Three days later on Nov. 11, the man became short of breath in hospital, and was found to have three broken ribs on his right side and blood pooling between his chest wall and his lungs. He died suddenly on Nov. 14. 

The autopsy report lists the cause of death as "pulmonary thromboembolism, due to or as a consequence of deep vein thromboses of both lower extremities."

The police watchdog organization reviewed the case and determined no wrongdoing on the part of police, citing the pre-existing condition and the fact that the broken ribs at the time of the arrest were not evident until the man was in hospital.