Manitoba inquest questions seizure of clothing from man who died in custody

An inquest report is questioning whether Winnipeg police should have taken the clothing of a man who died after being taken into custody for spitting on a liquor store employee.

The report into the death of Christopher Chastellaine says he was arrested after he was caught on camera spitting on the worker in 2014.

Chastellaine was in custody for five hours when officers came into his holding cell and told him they were seizing his clothing as evidence.

Chastellaine got upset and head-butted one of the officers.

The report says six officers helped take the man down onto the floor, handcuffed him and put a hood over his head so he couldn't spit at them.

He became unresponsive and died a few days later in hospital from what a pathologist said was brain damage stemming from a heart attack caused by excited delirium.

Associate Chief Judge Anne Krahn recommends in her report that officers be trained to better consider when clothing needs to be seized and on ways to de-escalate a situation.

Krahn says physical confrontation could have been avoided in the Chastellaine case.