Edmonton police officers cleared in 2022 death of woman during transport to hospital

Alberta’s police watchdog is not recommending charges against officers after a 22-year-old woman died while being transported by Edmonton police to the hospital in an incident dating back two-and-a-half years.

ASIRT says the woman’s death on Oct. 15, 2022, after she went into medical distress while in police “custody” was due to alcohol and drug toxicity. “No other causal factors were noted.”

While the woman’s death was sudden, ASIRT’s executive director wrote in his final report, “there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any officers committed an offence.”

The police watchdog says the woman, who flew from Vancouver to Edmonton earlier that day, consumed alcohol and cocaine throughout the day. She and her siblings ended up at the Gateway Entertainment Centre.

“They bowled for about 20 minutes and then (she) began to act strangely,” according to ASIRT’s report. “She was stumbling around and mumbling to herself. She then laid down on the floor on her back, and pushed herself around with her feet, moving under a table and then into other people’s lanes.”

They say police were called, and officers handcuffed the woman “for her own safety.”

Officials determined she should be taken to the hospital for a medical assessment and observation. Because it was determined not to be an emergency, ASIRT says she was placed in the back of her family’s vehicle — rather than wait for an ambulance.

“But she became unruly and escaped,” the watchdog said. “The two patrol officers, who had not yet left the parking lot, were summoned back to assist. A brief struggle ensued while placing (her) in handcuffs, again to protect herself and others nearby, and she was placed in the back seat of the police car to be transported to the hospital.”

Upon arriving to the University of Alberta Hospital ER after a 12-minute drive, the woman went into medical distress.

“She needed immediate medical interventions, which were first provided by police and then by medical staff in the Emergency Department,” ASIRT wrote. “Despite continued resuscitation efforts, (she) passed away later in the day.”

After reviewing the autopsy report, interviewing police and civilian witnesses, and poring over surveillance video, ASIRT ruled the officers were not at fault.