Family of Saskatoon man who died after arrest wants to know why he was jailed, rather than hospitalized

Cheney Ryan wants to know why officers who arrested his brother took him to police cells instead of a hospital.

Michael Ryan died on Feb. 26, 2016, in Saskatoon. He had been arrested around noon that day, taken to police cells and then to hospital. He died that same day.

An autopsy showed he had cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

A coroner's inquest into his death began Monday at Saskatoon's Court of Queen's Bench.

Jurors heard how police received multiple 9-1-1 calls about a man wandering in and out of traffic at 22nd Street and Avenue P. The intersection is on a busy west-side thoroughfare.

The audio from the emergency tape has callers describing a man "all whacked up on something" and someone "who doesn't look like he knows what he's doing."

This troubles Cheney.

"When somebody is incapable of making decisions on their own, wouldn't it beright to get him the ambulance care that they would need?" he said in an interview.

Jurors heard how Michael was in police cells for about two hours before collapsing.

Video shows Ryan being arrested

Det. Sgt. Kyla Hicks walked jurors through in-car video officers captured when they encountered Michael Ryan.

The video shows an officer speaking with him on the street, and then two officers wrestling Ryan into the back of the cruiser. He resisted going into the sedan and force was used, although there were no kicks or punches from officers.

The cameras aimed into the rear of the cruiser showed a man who appeared to be sweatingwith his hands cuffed behind his back.

He wasinformed that he was being arrested for outstanding warrantsand for being intoxicated in public.

Ryan was coherent enough to provide his full name, date of birth, address and phone number. He said that he understoodwhat he said could be used against him.

He was also told that he would be able to contact a lawyer from detention.

Det. Sgt. Hicks said Ryan was not a candidate for the brief detox unit because he had been aggressive and had outstanding warrants.

The inquest is expected to run all week and feature a dozen witnesses.