In a statement issued Monday, Ron MacDonald, chief executive of the Independent Investigations Office, said “there is good reason to believe that a police officer may have committed offenses in relation to the level of care” Riley Everett Patrick received after his arrest. on April 12, 2020. in a gun shop in the city center. Patrick was arrested after police were called in for a break and entered E&I Sports at 1400 Third Avenue, shortly after 4 p.m. At the time, police said the suspect tried to escape on foot, but then retreated back to the store where he remained locked, while the Northern District RCMP emergency team was called and sections of Fourth Avenue and Brunswick Street were closed. About 3 1/2 hours later, Patrick was arrested with the help of a police dog and taken to hospital for treatment of “minor injuries,” the RCMP said at the time. From there, he was taken back to the RCMP detention and, at about 4 p.m. that day, he was found to have a medical problem and was transported back to the hospital where he died eight days later. In determining whether to approve the charges, the Crown’s lawyer must be convinced that there is a significant likelihood of conviction based on the information gathered by the IIO and that a public interest prosecution is required.
