(FIle photo)
The province’s Special Investigations Unit has cleared a Pembroke police officer of criminal wrongdoing in connection with a man who overdosed in a police cruiser. The SIU says a 44-year-old was arrested on a breach of probation and placed in the cruiser on December 2nd, when the OPP were called to a Pembroke home for a disturbance. The investigation determined that while inside the vehicle, the man took out a white substance from the crotch area of his pants and ingested it. After the man went into medical distress, officers administered naloxone while waiting for paramedics. He was then taken to the hospital for treatment. SIU Director Joseph Martino said that while he found it regrettable that the bag of drugs was not detected and confiscated during the arrest, he noted that it was unlikely that anything short of a strip search would have uncovered the item given its location. The SIU found no reasonable grounds to believe the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the drug overdose.
Written by: Cindy Clyne
