Waterloo officer cleared in tasered man's heart attack

May 24, 2006 at 12:54 PM EDT
Globe and Mail

Toronto — A Waterloo Region police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing after using a Taser on a man who then had a heart attack.

Officers were called to the Grand River Hospital to help subdue an agitated psychiatric patient on April 12.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit said the officer used a Taser after a patient acted in a “dangerous and violent manner” in a hospital room.

The man was immobilized, handcuffed and given a sedative, but suffered a heart attack when he was being placed on a stretcher.

The SIU said in its report that it did not explore whether the Taser caused the heart attack, but it did say the officer's use of the Taser represented reasonable force and was justifiable.

The unidentified man was released from hospital six days after the incident.

The SIU investigates all circumstances involving police and civilians which result in serious injury, sexual assault or death.