Peel Police Cleared in Man’s Naloxone-Related Death in Brampton

Brampton | Ontario | Crime | Latest News |

Published April 12, 2018 at 5:25 pm

Peel Regional Police officers have been cleared in the death of a man after giving him an anti-overdose drug in Brampton.

Peel Regional Police officers have been cleared in the death of a man after giving him an anti-overdose drug in Brampton.

“The only contact police had with the man involved performing CPR and administering Narcan nasal spray,” said Special Investigations Unit director Tony Loparco in a decision released April 12.

“While neither of these interventions was able to save the man’s life, they did not contribute to the man’s death. As such, I have terminated the investigation into this incident.”

Officers were dispatched to a medical assistance call and possible overdose on March 12 at a Brampton home near McLaughlin Rd. and Queen St. W. at 12:30 a.m.

They found the 36-year-old man, who was motionless and not breathing.

Peel paramedics arrived and took over.

Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and the man was pronounced dead at 1:11 a.m.

The SIU automatically invoked its mandate and is also investigating another overdose in the region after a 45-year-old man died in Mississauga last week.

The issue over investigating naloxone-related deaths is a contentious one, with Ontario’s police chiefs battling the province’s SIU in the midst of the opioid crisis.

Out in B.C., the administration of naloxone isn’t investigated by the SIU.But in Ontario, the SIU says police must advise the agency when a death occurs during police interaction if naloxone was attempted or administered.

Peel’s new police association president, Adrian Woolley, has been openly critical of Loparco and top government officials, including Premier Kathleen Wynne and Attorney General Yasir Naqvi.

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