Coroner says death of man handcuffed, pinned face-down by Saskatoon police an accident

Dan Zakreski · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 3:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

The coroner astatine a Saskatoon inquest says Saskatoon constabulary did not mean to harm oregon termination 32-year-old Ashwin Poggenpoel erstwhile they pinned him face-down connected the crushed with his hands cuffed down his backmost and a mesh container implicit his head.

Coroner William Davern told the inquest sheet Thursday that Poggenpoel died accidentally. The decision triggered an contiguous effect from the gallery.

"This is simply a joke. Cops proceed to termination america connected the street. This is our life," said 1 pistillate arsenic she stormed out, slamming the ballroom door. Loud sobs could beryllium heard from the hallway.

Davern made the comments arsenic helium gave instructions to the three men and 3 women connected the sheet anterior to their deliberations. Their mandate is not to laic blame, but alternatively suggest ways to forestall aboriginal deaths, helium said.

They sat through three days of testimony, constabulary assemblage camera footage and reports.

"I cannot accidental connected a equilibrium of probabilities that officers intended to harm oregon origin the decease of Mr. Poggenpoel," Davern said.

"In the lack of intent, the lone decision is an accident."

In reviewing the evidence, Davern described a chaotic country from June 18, 2022.

Officers were called to an flat gathering adjacent City Hospital for a study of a antheral successful distress. The archetypal to arrive decided the antheral needed aesculapian attraction and called an ambulance. At that point, Poggenpoel was simply lasting with the officers and had not been arrested, Davern said.

Poggenpoel's autopsy aboriginal showed that helium had methamphetamine and cocaine successful his system.

The 32-year-old bolted from constabulary earlier paramedics arrived and ran a artifact to Queen Street. There, helium broke into a house. Police said they were acrophobic astatine that constituent helium would wounded himself, oregon idiosyncratic successful the house.

Police caught up and past began trying to subdue Poggenpoel. Davern said Poggenpoel was successful a authorities of "excited delerium."

"A struggle ensued and they handcuffed him, enactment connected a spit-sock and held him down … each the portion calling for assistance to sedate him."

The spit-sock, a breathable mesh container implicit his head, was meant to forestall him from spraying humor and saliva connected the 2 officers pinning his legs and buttocks.

Officers testified that Poggenpoel continued bucking and struggling, which they interpreted arsenic resisting. Davern said that Poggenpoel was apt confused and panicking, struggling due to the fact that helium could not breathe.

He stopped struggling aft 3 to 4 minutes, "unfortunately due to the fact that helium had stopped breathing," Davern said.

Pathologist Dr. Shaun Ladham concluded that Poggenpoel died of "positional asphyxia," which happens erstwhile a person's assemblage presumption prevents capable breathing.

Ladham said the drugs successful the 32-year-old's strategy could person contributed to his death, arsenic could person the cardiovascular illness helium detected.

Davern noted, however, that Ladham did not accidental that Poggenpoel died of a cause overdose oregon cardiac arrest.