RCMP cleared by ASIRT after wanted man in wheelchair diagnosed with injury following police transport

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said RCMP officers did not act unlawfully when arresting a man in Red Deer who reported suffering an injury while in police custody.

The investigation also determined there was no force used when RCMP members arrested, detained and transported the 32-year-old man to the police detachment.

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In a press release issued Friday, ASIRT said two Red Deer RCMP members were called for reports of a dispute between roommates on March 13, 2017.

When they got there, police determined the subject of the complaint — a 32-year-old man in a wheelchair –was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Calgary, ASIRT said.

RCMP members were unable to release the man because of the terms of the warrant and he was transported to the Red Deer detachment to appear before a Justice of the Peace.

ASIRT said the man told officers how to disassemble his wheelchair, which was loaded onto a second police vehicle. The man and his wheelchair were taken to the local detachment where he was detained overnight. According to ASIRT, the man left in a taxi the next morning after posting bail.

“Later that day, the man noticed bruising on his leg and attended Red Deer Regional Hospital, where it was determined he had a fractured femur,” ASIRT said in its statement.

The investigation determined no criminal negligent conduct by any officers that may have caused the man’s injury during the course of his arrest, transport and detention. The police watchdog was uncertain when the man sustained the injury.

ASIRT said there will be no criminal charges laid.