VANCOUVER -- After a report found responding officers did all they could to locate his son who’d been recorded overdosing at a skate park in August, a Langley father says he’s satisfied RCMP did not play a role in the 14-year-old's death.
“As far as what I understand they actually did get out of their cars, and they talked to some people at the sports arena. They said they looked for about 30 minutes,” said Carson Crimeni’s father, Aron Crimeni.
The Independent Investigations Office was asked to investigate police involvement in the incident and to determine whether any action or inaction on the part of the police played a role in Crimeni's death.
After a concerned parent saw a Snapchat video of Crimeni overdosing at the skate park and called 911, the report found officers "acted completely reasonably" in their response, because there was little information to help them determine where Crimeni had gone. The teen was found in medical distress behind a nearby recreation centre a few hours after the 911 call, and died on the way to hospital.
“I feel satisfied the police did what they could,” said Aron Crimeni. “The kids had seen them coming and took off, they dragged Carson along with them apparently. Carson was in no shape to really understand what was going on, of course. They took him with them and hid away from police.”
While RCMP have been cleared of any wrongdoing in Crimeni’s death, his father still expects charges against the teens who gave him the drugs that ultimately killed him, and posted social media videos of the 14-year-old overdosing.
“They're preparing a package for the Crown Counsel. They're figuring it will be another month at least before they have that package ready, and another month after that before Crown approves it or not,” said Crimeni.
When asked what type of charges he’d like to see, he responded, “I hope they get charged with first degree murder, and tried as adults.”
Crimeni would like the results of his son’s toxicology test so he can learn what drugs Carson took that night, but police aren’t sharing much with the family as they build their case.
“Because of the investigation, a lot of the information is being held confidential,” said Crimeni. “At this point, we're just having faith that police are doing their best to make sure charges are being pressed and when it goes to court all of the information will come out.
As he waits for news from police and crown, Crimeni says this time of year is proving to be especially difficult.
“Christmas is gonna be hard,” he said. “I've pretty much opted out of Christmas this year."
