SIRT concludes no wrongdoing in case of in-custody death at Carlyle RCMP detachment

June 15, 2026, 10:49 am
Ashley Bochek, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team has concluded an investigation into an in-custody death at the Carlyle RCMP detachment on December 13, 2024 and found no grounds to believe any police officer committed any Criminal Code offence during the course of the incident, and no charges will be laid.

“Following a review of the totality of the evidence in this case, and considering in particular the issues of the conduct of the affected person’s arrest, the ongoing monitoring of the affected person while he remained in custody, and the reaction of police once it was determined that the affected person was unresponsive, there are no grounds to believe any police officer committed any Criminal Code offence during the course of this incident and no charges will be laid,” says SIRT in its investigation summary.

On Friday December 13, 2024, at 9:20 am, SIRT received a notification from the RCMP regarding an in-custody death at the Carlyle RCMP Detachment. SIRT’s Civilian Executive Director accepted the notification as within SIRT’s mandate and directed an investigation by SIRT.

On December 13, 2024, at 12:20 am, the Carlyle RCMP received a call reporting an assault on the White Bear First Nation. Three RCMP members responded to the call, and located two injured individuals, who were transported to hospital.

In addition to the injured individuals, a 49-year-old man was arrested and transported to the Carlyle RCMP Detachment, where, at 1:30 am, he was placed in a cell. At 9:07 am, the man was observed to have gone into medical distress and CPR was commenced. RCMP members provided first aid until the arrival of EMS at 9:26 am, who then assumed responsibility for the man’s care. At 9:55 am, the man was pronounced deceased by EMS.

SIRT was notified of the incident, and a SIRT team consisting of the Civilian Executive Director and five SIRT investigators was deployed to Carlyle to begin the investigation. On March 11, 2026, the completed investigation was submitted to the Civilian Executive Director for review.

SIRT says as part of the investigation, five members of the RCMP were designated as Witness Officers pursuant to The Police Regulations and were interviewed during the course of SIRT’s investigation. Seven civilian witnesses were identified and interviewed during SIRT’s investigation. Those witnesses consisted of the detachment’s civilian guard, the EMS staff who responded to the Carlyle detachment in response to the affected person’s medical distress, and various family members of the affected person and others present in the residence at the time of the affected person’s arrest.

Documentary evidence gathered during the investigation included cell logs, prisoner reports, and the contents of various RCMP files related to the initial arrest of the affected person and subsequent incident within the detachment. Those documents confirmed the timing of various events during the incident, including dispatch and response times, as well as the timing and observations recorded during the regular checks of the affected person in his cell.

Extensive video footage was seized from the detachment’s CCTV recording system and the in-car digital video (ICDV) systems of the involved police vehicles. This footage captured the entirety of the affected person’s time in custody, including his transport to the Carlyle RCMP Detachment, movement from the vehicle into the cellblock area, and his placement and presence within the cell until the time of his death.

An autopsy was conducted shortly after the affected person’s death, which determined that the affected person had died from the combined toxicity of ethanol and multiple drugs with respiratory and central nervous system depressive effects. The affected person was also determined to have atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease which contributed to his death.
During the course of the investigation, as required by S.91.12(1) of The Police Act, 1990, a community liaison was appointed to assist the investigation. The liaison was provided with regular updates on the investigation, and at the conclusion of the investigation, was provided the opportunity to review the investigation in its entirety, and to make comments and recommendations as necessary.