Inquest to probe man's death during Winnipeg arrest

Manitoba's acting chief medical examiner has called an inquest into the death of a man who died in of Winnipeg police custody early last year.

Taumas Justin LeBlanc, 20, died following a brief struggle with officers at hisGarden City home, where officers were answeringthe report a disturbance on Feb. 12, 2017.

An autopsy showed LeBlanc's immediate cause of death was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

But the autopsy also listed chronic alcoholism, cardiomegaly(abnormal enlargement of the heart) and physiological stress due to the struggle with officers as "significant conditions contributing to the death but not causally related to the immediate case."

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba,which investigatesall serious cases involving police officers in the province, is also probing LeBlanc's death.

LeBlanc's father, Ken LeBlanc, has told CBC Newsthat he had called officers to the home the night his adopted son died.

'I see him when I close my eyes' says father of 20-year-old who died in police custody

8 years ago

Duration 1:50

Ken LeBlanc wants to know how his 20-year-old adopted son, Taumaos LeBlanc, who died in police custody in the early morning hours on Monday.

He said his son, who had been struggling with alcohol sincehis adoptive motherdied of cancer in 2013, was intoxicated and "howling like a wolf."

He said he stayed upstairs while officers dealt with his son downstairs. He said he heard the struggle and then the smell of Mace inside his house.

"All I heard was the coughing, when another eight police come down to help," said LeBlanc in the days after his son's death. "They went downstairs and they were coughing from the Mace (self-defence spray), so they all went outside and the other two stayed down there."

Inquests are mandated through the provincial Fatality Inquiries Act when "the chief medical examiner has reasonable grounds to believe that the deceased person died as a result of the use of force by a peace officer who was acting in the course of duty."

Inquiries are also called when "at the time of death, the deceased person was in the custody of a peace officer."

The date, time and location of the inquest will be determined by the chief judge of Manitoba's provincial court and the findingsmade public when it concludes.