Police watchdog says North Vancouver Mounties did not cause man's fall
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2019 18:31:57 +0000
The Independent Investigations Office, B.C.’s police watchdog, has cleared North Vancouver Mounties of any wrongdoing in connection with injuries suffered by a man who fell from a third-floor window earlier this year.
On June 20, North Vancouver RCMP responded to a report of man with a knife inside an apartment in the 2600-block of Fromme Road.
When officers arrived they spotted a man, matching the description provided by the complainant, hanging from the window of a third-floor apartment.
North Vancouver RCMP say the man fell to the ground, fracturing his leg, and was arrested without incident.
According to the IIO report, the man had entered the apartment building through a ground-floor suite and made his way through the building, banging on apartment doors, until he got to the third floor.
When a woman opened her door to check on the disturbance, the man entered her apartment, picked up a kitchen knife and claimed that someone had killed his son.
The woman called 911 and then fled, with another female, to a friend’s apartment on the same floor.
When officers arrived, the man had already climbed out the window of an enclosed balcony.
Witnesses told the IIO that officers asked the man to get back inside and not to jump, but he fell while trying to drop down to a second-floor balcony.
The IIO, which investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, uncovered no evidence to suggest police actions resulted in the man’s injuries.
Meanwhile the man, who was not named, made no allegations towards the Mounties and told IIO investigators that he had no recollection of the evening.
The IIO will not be referring the case to Crown counsel for the consideration of charges.