There is no evidence to indicate that the death of a 27-year old Sudbury man is the result of the actions of Ontario Provincial Police officers, the province’s police watchdog reported on Feb. 26.
The Special Investigations Unit deemed the death a tragedy, but said that although officers were present for the incident, they could not be held culpable.
Police had been called to the man’s apartment building after he had threatened to shoot his neighbor.
The officers determined that they didn’t have sufficient grounds to place him under arrest, and were waiting for permission to enter the man’s apartment.
It was then that the man fell backwards off of his second-storey balcony, hitting his head on a patio stone.
The man’s blood alcohol level was excessively high at the time of his death.
