A coroner’s inquest into the death of a Prince Albert man found he suffered a cardiac arrest due to drug use and a restricted airway while being held down by police.
The April 1, 2023, incident began during a traffic stop by Prince Albert Police Service officers near the 1200 block of 13th Street West involving a reportedly stolen car.
Police said Boden Umpherville, 40, resisted arrest and that the situation escalated, leading to an emergency alert drawing all officers on duty to the scene.
Umpherville, a passenger in the car, was pulled out of the vehicle, while officers used tasers, batons and pepper spray on him.
The inquest proceedings continued Tuesday with Saskatchewan’s chief forensic pathologist Dr. Shaun Ladham testifying on the use of force by police during the incident.
Ladham testified to his viewing of police dashcam footage, noting Umpherville saying, “I cannot breathe” twice and “help” five times without medical assessment for seven minutes after police had forced Umpherville onto his stomach.
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“You have to do a formal assessment,” said Ladham. “He was struggling until he couldn’t anymore because his body couldn’t take what was happening to him.”
After the incident, Umpherville was taken to hospital and placed on life support but was determined to be brain dead.
Ladham says autopsy results show Umpherville suffered multiple injuries to his skull and a cardiac arrest that went unnoticed by officials for too long.
Umpherville’s close friend, Chase Sinclair, said, “If they would have got off him, he would have been living today, plain and simple,” recalling his viewing of video footage from the incident.
“All we can go off is his shoes that aren’t moving and the fact that he was crying for help and telling him he can’t breathe and then he’s silent for four minutes after,” said Sinclair. “The questions that we need to ask are these officers competent enough to do their job? Are they burnt out?”
Sinclair says he hopes recommendations to limit excessive force come from the inquest and are taken seriously by police.
“I don’t like that term recommendation. I hope it’s a demand, because they could have saved a life, right? We matter too, we matter too,” says Sinclair.
The inquest is expected to continue in the coming days.
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