An inquest into the death of a man in Calgary police custody earlier this month has concluded that officers did not contribute to his death and that he was properly cared for.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has released a report on its investigation into the October 18 incident.

Police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant located at 5222 130th Avenue SE Calgary for a report of a disturbance.

When an officer arrived at the scene, they saw the man “acting erratically.” After a brief struggle, the man was taken into custody while “refusing commands to comply,” according to the report.

He was eventually handcuffed and taken into custody. The man was searched by the police, without finding anything of concern. He was then evaluated by EMS and medically cleared.

ASIRT said the man had criminal warrants for his arrest, including one for drug possession.

He was then taken to the Calgary Police Service, Arrest Processing Section (APS). After a second pat down, a small baggie filled with a green substance believed to be heroin or fentanyl was found, ASIRT said.

A search was then carried out without further finding. ASIRT says the man told the paramedic at the scene that he had been using methamphetamine and fentanyl for the past six hours.

The man was then taken to a cell around 8:30am

As part of its investigation, ASIRT reviewed the APS logs and noted that security checks were carried out on the man at regular intervals in accordance with policy.

ASIRT also reviewed CCTV video of the man’s cell.

“At approximately 3:44 p.m., the man is sitting on the toilet and is observed holding his hand between his legs, appears to be retrieving something and immediately moves his hand to his mouth. Then he flushes the toilet and moves out of the toilet to lie on the bench,” ASIRT said.

At 4:33 p.m., the man appeared to have trouble breathing and was unconscious two minutes later.

Two officers entered the cell and began probing the man for a response. The APS medic arrived, did a pulse check and left the cell to retrieve the medical equipment. ASIRT said a CPS officer who was previously a paramedic began CPR.

The doctor returned at 16:39 with their equipment. An automatic external defibrillator was applied, and the man was given oxygen. EMS then arrived and began medical treatment, but pronounced the man dead at 5:31 p.m

An autopsy was performed on the man on October 21, where the examiner found no obvious cause of death.

“The medical examiner is awaiting further toxicology and other information to determine the cause of death,” ASIRT said.

“While this is the case, there is no evidence that any officer caused or contributed to his death. Furthermore, all the evidence supports that while in custody the man was properly cared for.”

ASIRT noted that no officer has been named as a subject and the investigation is now closed.