Witnesses believe Winnipeg police used excessive force in restraining intoxicated man, who later died
Officers restrained man who became unresponsive while being transported to cruiser, IIU probing: police chief
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Witnesses say they are upset, scared and don't trust police anymore after they say officers used unnecessary force in an effort to restrain an intoxicated man over the weekend.
The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of Manitoba which investigates all serious matters involving police in the province is looking into the incident after the 35-year-old man died following the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Multiple videos of the incident were shared with CBC News by witnessesthat show the moments before and during the man's interaction with police.
Several witnesses told CBCthey felt police used excessive force in restraining him, including the man who watched it all unfold in front of his ground-level suite.
"I don't understand why I have to feel guilty for calling 911 that I feel that I got this guy killed, for calling for peace officers to come and secure someone in the vicinity that is drunk," said Pete, who CBC News is only identifying by first name because he fears for his safety.
"I understand he should've gone into the drunk tank, but he did not need to die."
WATCH |Winnipeg police surround man as he lies on the ground:
Winnipeg police were contacted by a woman calling for help just after midnight Saturday, police Chief Danny Smyth said at the news conference Sunday. She told police her boyfriend was intoxicated and she was worried for the safety of her three children who were inside their Fairlane Avenue apartment, Smyth said.
"There was a lot of yelling, a lot of commotion in the background and reports of windows being smashed," Smyth said during the news conference.
Following the call, police were dispatched to the suite for a "domestic situation" at 12:09 a.m. In the meantime, the woman fled to another suite in the building, Smyth said.
Seven minutes later, the woman called police back and said her boyfriend had fallen down the stairs from their second-floor suite and was lying in the snow at the base of the stairs. Another caller said the man had wandered into the parking lot but had fallen on the ground, said Smyth.
Pete said he woke up around midnight to the man's girlfriend knocking on his window. After that, he went outside and saw the man coming down the stairs, which heappeared to fall down before getting up again andknockingon a neighbour's door.
Pete saidthe man banged on his window too, before walkingout to the parking lot and falling down.
"He stayed down and he never got up again that was it."
Surveillance video from before the incident shows the man yelling, before fallingin the parking lot of the apartment complex. While on the ground the man appears to call for help, says that he loves his children and yells "come on" many times.
WATCH |Surveillance video shows man lying in parking lot of apartment building before police arrive:
Pete said at one point he told a 911 operator that it looked like the man had passed out and wasn't moving anymore. He said he also told the operator the man was flinging his arms out, but again, said it looked like he was passed out and needed help.
When police arrived, the man was still lying on his back in the snow. Police descended on him, using force in a manner that escalated things unnecessarily, Pete said.
"They just kept beating him. They just kept beating him, they wouldn't stop.He actually at one point reached out his hand,and he says, 'please stop, please stop.'"
He said the man's girlfriend also yelled at police to stop.By the time the police had the manhandcuffed, hewas "still," Pete said.
"He tried to protect himself, he never once reacted in offence to try and get them off of him," Pete said. "Everything he did with his arms and stuff like that, he was protecting himself."
WATCH |Video of man on ground while Winnipeg police threaten use of Taser:
Mason Kabestra, who also witnessed the interaction, said he was about to sit down and relax after midnight when he heardofficersyelling at the man,telling him to calm down and relax. Hedidn't think much of what was going on until the officer's voice became louder than the man's outside.
Kabestra said he didn't hear an officer warn the man that he was going to be Tasered, but then believes he heard it go off and that officers waited for the man to collapse.He went into suite, grabbed his phone and started to record afterwards.
WATCH |Video shows Winnipeg police restrain 35 year old man, who appears unconscious:
Smyth said police arrived at 12:23 a.m. and found the man lying in the parking lot. While they handcuffed him and started to bring him to a police car, he "became unresponsive."
Smyth said police called an ambulance and administered first aid until paramedics arrived a detail all three witnesses dispute.
"The ambulance driver, when they got here, asked, 'Why is no one doing CPR on this guy?' Not one fricken cop was doing CPR on him,"Pete said. "They stood there like 15 minutes waiting for an ambulance while this guy is not moving."
Theambulance driver then started CPR, he said.
The man was taken to the hospital, where hedied Saturday night, Smyth said.
An autopsy is expected to happen on Monday. The woman and the three children were not injured, Smyth said.
The man's family is asking for privacy at this time.
'I don't think I'll ever be the same:' witness says
Kristina Bauer also witnessed the interactionand said when officers arrived they tried picking the man up, but he was "kind of half asleep at the same time."
When officers tried to pick him up, she said he slipped because he was waking up and wasn't wearing shoes.
Bauer said officers told the man to stop resisting but "he wasn't resisting, he literally just fell" and as soon as he hit the ground they were on his back. She said it appeared as though officers Tasered the man.
She also said one officer took out a baton and started "smashing him with it."
"They just kept beating him and beating him and beating him until he didn't move anymore."
In one video of the incident, the man appears to be lying down on his back, kicking out his two feet in the snow while squirming around and isn't wearing shoes. Three officers can be seen at the beginning of the video standing around the man, but seconds pass before the officers converge on him.
At least one officer can be seen kneeling down on the man. Another officer appears to fall over after the man who, while flailing his legs, appears to kick the officer off.
The same officer can then been seen putting pressure on the man's legs and takes out what looks like a baton, striking the man in the legs multiple times. The man stops moving and more officers converge on the man.
The group of officers then get off the man and carry him face down toward a police cruiser. The man appears to be unresponsive in the video.
Bauer said she grew up alwaysknowing that if she called 911, police would help her, but she doesn't feel that way anymore.
"Now I'm scared," she said."He laid there asking for help and he died and I don't think I'll ever be the same."
WATCH |Witnesses believe police used unnecessary force in responding to intoxicated man:
Smyth was asked if there was a struggle between the man and police. He said he didn't know what was being said onlinebut that officers chose to restrain the man.
"And by restrain I mean handcuff," he said. "Certainly they'll account for why they did that and what occurred leading up to that but that'll be up to IIU to determine."
Smyth also said the autopsy report will go to the IIU and that no signs of visible injuries were brought to his attention.
"Again that'll be part of the IIU investigation, it'll be up to them to determine what the cause of death was."
He also said he doesn't think the man was known to police.
Sunday's news conferenceis a balancing act to provide enough information to the publicwhile also respecting the integrity of the investigation, Smyth said.
"We're aware that things can occur or be captured in little snippets online and a whole narrative could take off without anybody really knowing what occurred," he said.
"I think it's important that we try to provide some context, but also respecting the fact that IIU still has to investigate it."
WATCH|Winnipeg police hand investigation of man's death following restraint over to IIU:
Pete said he wonders why the officers didn't approach the man differentlyand said that he called 911 with the intent of getting help for him.
"I feel horrible, I'm scared of cops," he said. "I'm shaking like a leaf, I can't stand it when I see a cop car coming to my window."
Pete, who is white,also said he feels the man received the response he didbecause he was Indigenous, and believesit wouldn't have happened had someone been with him.
Bauer, who is also white,echoed thatstatement, adding theresponse of about nine police cars and 15 officers "wasn't necessary."
She said she doesn't want what happenedpushed to the side by the public because he was intoxicated.
"He was someone's father, he was someone's son, he was someone's uncle. He had a family that cared about him and loved him and he had little children that loved him," she said.
"At the end of the day we're all human and we all bleed the same and it wasn't fair. He was treated unfairly and it never should have happened. It didn't need to escalate that way."
With files from Erin Brohman
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