Sask. police watchdog investigating in-custody death at Melfort RCMP detachment
44-year-old man died while in police custody on May 6
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is investigating the death of a 44-year-old man who was in police custody at Melfort's RCMP detachment.
According to the RCMP, officers responded at about 9:45 a.m. CST on May 6 to reports of a man disturbing the peace at a home on Bemister Avenue West in Melfort, which is about 150 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. They found a 44-year-old man they say had broken the window at the home.
Officers arrested the man and transported him to the RCMP detachment. RCMP say they then called EMS, who came and took the man to the hospital.
Police were later called to the hospital after reports that the same man was causing a disturbance.
He was taken back to the RCMP detachment at around 10:45 a.m. CST.
According to RCMP, officers found the man unresponsive in his cell at about 5:10 p.m. CST.
Officers started CPR and EMS transported the man back to hospital, where he was declared dead.
SIRT is the province's civilian-led watchdog unit that investigates serious incidents involving police. SIRT posted on social media Wednesday that it had been deployed to investigate the death and would provide more details at a later time.