Man's death in Rockwood OPP detachment due to drug overdose, SIU clears officers
'No basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case,' SIU director Joseph Martino said in report
The death of 36-year-old Nathaniel Schofield at the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment in Rockwood in July 2024 was due to a drug overdose and there is no reason to charge police officers in the case, the director of the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says.
In a report released Monday morning, SIU director Joseph Martino wrote that "there is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case" as he believed the evidence showed the officers monitored Schofield while he was in custody, checked on him regularly and attempted to help him when he collapsed.
"There are no reasonable grounds to believe that the [sergeant at the detachment] committed a criminal offence," Martino wrote.
The report said Schofield was arrested on the evening of July 9, 2024 at his home in Arthur after a domestic disturbance. He was initially taken to Teviotdale where he was held in a cell.
"Asked about any consumption of drugs, the complainant [Schofield] indicated he had taken fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. It was decided that [Schofield] would be transferred to the OPP Rockwood detachment as there was a prisoner there already under supervision," the SIU report says.
While at Rockwood, officers observed Schofield. He initially slept, but around 4 a.m., he "appeared sweaty, cold and pale."
"Asked if needed medical assistance, the complainant answered in the negative and explained he was experiencing withdrawal," the SIU report said.
He began to vomit at 7:20 a.m. Although he told an officer he was feeling better he still had the chills and cold sweats. He vomited again at 8 a.m. and was moved to a new cell.
"He walked on his own power during the transfer," the SIU report said. An employee at the detachment continued to check on Schofield regularly.
"When asked, he told her he was fine," the report said.
At 10:15 a.m., a "strange sound" was heard in Schofield's cell and someone could be heard "gasping for breath."
An employee called for an officer to help and when the officer entered the cell, Schofield fell from the bench onto the floor.
"A defibrillator was retrieved but was not used on the advice of the paramedic call centre as one of the officers believed he had felt a pulse. Two doses of nasal Narcan were administered," the report says.
Paramedics arrived at 10:25 a.m. and it was found Schofield did not have any vital signs and could not been resuscitated. He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m. on July 10, 2024.
The report says the autopsy concluded Schofield's death was attributable to "fluorofentanyl, fentanyl, methyl/isobutyryl-fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine toxicity."
Mother waited in court
Schofield's death made headlines because his mother, Faye Dzikewich, waited in a Guelph courtroom for several hours for her son's appearance on July 10.
"I called Rockwood two or three times the next day," Dzikewich told CBC News in July of that year. "They assured me that he would be released on his own because it wasn't anything serious. They made me think that they were relaying stuff."
At around 4 p.m., Dzikewich was still sitting in court when a call came in and was played over the speakers.
"They said that my son was in medical distress and had just been rushed to Guelph General Hospital," she said.
"The judge wished me well, gave me a nod and I ran out of that courtroom."
In November, Dzikewich joined a rally in Toronto outside the office of Ontario's chief coroner to call for coroner's inquests to be held in a more timely manner. She said families should not have to go through long wait times not knowing what happened to their loved ones.
WATCH | Families call on Ontario coroner to speed up inquests:
