Alberta’s police watchdog is investigating after a woman died while being arrested by Edmonton police last month.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said in a Tuesday news release the incident occurred on March 26, at roughly 6:30 p.m. when officers responded to a call about a woman causing a disturbance at restaurant in Mill Woods.
Witnesses reported that she was acting erratically, yelling and scaring customers. When officers arrived, the woman ran into a nearby restaurant and hid in a washroom.
Officers found and arrested her, then called paramedics to attend the scene. The woman did not co-operate with their attempts to assess her condition.
At roughly 7 p.m. the woman was transported to the EPS detainee management unit, which police say is a specialized unit for processing and monitoring at-risk or vulnerable detainees.
During the transport, the woman continued to behave erratically, and upon arrival DMU staff found the woman unresponsive and called emergency services to take her to the hospital, where she died a short time later.
The Police Review Commission has directed ASIRT to investigate this incident as a Level 1 matter. Under the Police Act, this includes cases involving serious injury or death, or sensitive or serious concerns about an officer’s actions.
ASIRT said the investigation is still in the early stages and is ongoing.
Investigators continue to seek people who may have any portion of the incident, or may have relevant video recordings of the incident can contact 780-644-1483 to assist.
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