RCMP Watch

Jonathan Wooward, Vancouver sun

A man who was screaming and smashing windows on the main street of Fort St. John died while struggling with police early Monday.

The RCMP issued a statement about the death Tuesday, but did not identify the man except to say he was in his 30s.

Police were called to 100 Street in Fort St. John at about 12:50 a.m., where they found a man banging on the windows of several businesses, said RCMP Insp. Keith Redl.

Two officers called for backup when the man put down large rocks he was carrying and fled, said Redl, who is the commanding officer in Fort St. John.

Police gave chase and handcuffed the man during a struggle with a “hog-tie” device called the “RIPP Hobble,” said Const. Annie Linteau.

“He tried to kick and bite the police officers several times,” she said.

Only some police detachments use the RIPP Hobble, a cord that wraps around a person’s legs and clips to their handcuffs, she said.

But before the man was restrained, he became unconscious, said Linteau. An ambulance was called, and paramedics found the man had gone into cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at Fort St. John Hospital.

An autopsy on the man will be performed today. A coroner’s inquest is mandatory when someone dies in police custody.

The North District Major Crime Unit and the B.C. Coroners Service will investigate, and the Fort St. John RCMP detachment will conduct its own internal review, RCMP said.