The BC Prosecution Service announced Thursday that no charges have been approved against a Prince George RCMP officer in connection to the death of a man arrested and detained in police custody 3 ½ years ago at the Prince George detachment.
Everett Riley Patrick was arrested after police responded to break-and-enter alarm in a downtown sporting goods store in the 1400 block of Third Avenue on April 12, 2020. He was medically cleared at the hospital and then taken to the cells at the local detachment.
Hours later, while still in cells, the man went into medical distress and was taken back to the hospital suffering from serious injury. He died eight days later.
After an investigation, the chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe the officer responsible for the arrested man may have committed the offences of failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing death and submitted a report to the BC Prosecution Service.
The prosecution service concluded the evidence does not meet the BCPS charge assessment standard and was not able to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the officer committed any offence in relation to the incident.
Last year - two years to the day after his death - Patrick's family filed a lawsuit, claiming police failed to "enforce reasonable standards of care" while he was in custody at the Prince George RCMP detachment.
No response has been filed to the statement of claim, which remains before the court.
