Hamilton

SIU investigates man's death after Hamilton police restrained him during medical call

The death of a 49-year-old man who was restrained, following a medical call, by Hamilton police officers is being investigated by the province's Special Investigations Unit.

Man, 49, taken to hospital where he died on July 11

A sign of the Special Investigations Unit.
The province's Special Investigations Unit says it's investigating a man's death after he was restrained by Hamilton police during a medical call. (Yvon Theriault/CBC)

The death of a 49-year-old man who was restrained, following a medical call, by Hamilton police officers is being investigated by the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU).

In a news release, the SIU said Hamilton officers went to a home in Dundas on the evening of July 8 to help paramedics with a medical call. 

The SIU says that upon arrival, officers found the man incoherent and unresponsive. The officers restrained the man, allowing the paramedics to treat him, the release says.

The man then went vital signs absent and he was taken to a hospital in Hamilton. The man was pronounced dead on July 11.

The release did not identify the man's name.

CBC Hamilton has asked the SIU to describe the man's behaviour before he was restrained, how the man was restrained and the number of officers involved and the cause of death.

In response, the SIU says it has shared what it can share at this stage, and that the questions asked "will be part and parcel" of its investigation.

The SIU says three investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to the case. The post-mortem was scheduled for July 12.