Skip to main content

Two men sent to hospital after stay in Vancouver police jail

Vancouver Police Department headquarters is seen in Vancouver on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS) Vancouver Police Department headquarters is seen in Vancouver on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Share
Vancouver -

An investigation has been launched after two men were sent to hospital after stays in the Vancouver Police Department’s jail.

The two men were arrested separately and went into “medical distress” while in jail, reads a statement from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.

“The men had been arrested separately regarding unrelated outstanding warrants. The arrests did not occur at the same location,” the statement continues.

The IIO also did not specify whether the men were staying in solitary jail cells, shared cells with other people, or held together in the same cell, nor was any information about the process of their arrest released.

One man was arrested on Oct. 15 around 11:30 p.m. and was “lodged” in Vancouver police cells, says the IIO.

“At approximately 7:25 a.m. the following morning, Oct. 16, the man was found to be in medical distress.”

On that same day, before the first man was sent to hospital, another man was arrested around 2:30 a.m. and also held in jail. Police then found him in medical stress three hours later at 5:30 a.m. – two hours before the first man was found in medical distress.

“In both cases, jail personnel provided medical assistance until Emergency Health Services arrived and transported the men to the hospital for treatment,” the IIO statement reads.

No further information on the two men’s health condition was provided.

The IIO is now investigating to see whether the officers played a role. The independent agency investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death. 

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected