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SIU clears Ottawa police officers following man's overdose death in custody

Special Investigations Unit. (File image) Special Investigations Unit. (File image)
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Ontario’s police watchdog has found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of two Ottawa police officers after a man died of a drug overdose in custody last year.

Police arrested a 49-year-old man on Jan. 19, 2021 during a warranted search for drugs.

While the man was in a holding cell, he began to exhibit signs of medical distress. He was taken to the hospital where he died of an overdose.

The Special Investigations Unit found no reasonable grounds to believe that either officer transgressed the limits of care in connection with the man’s time in police custody. The file has been closed.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

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