Taser death may take weeks to unravel

May 9, 2009
Calgary Herald

It could be weeks before investigators know the official cause of death of the man who was involved in a Taser incident in Brooks this week, police say.

An autopsy was performed on Friday in Calgary on the body of Grant William Prentice, 40, to determine how he died.

Clifton Purvis, director of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, said the procedure has been completed, but the results of an important component, toxicology tests, could still be weeks away.

The team, the provincial body that investigates police use of force, is leading the investigation into what happened in Brooks on Wednesday night.

Prentice's family is not speaking publicly about the case, but Justice Minister Alison Redford weighed in on the subject of Tasers Friday, calling the incident a"really unfortunate situation."

Redford said she could not speak directly about the Brooks case, but said that it's better for police to have Tasers than not.

"When you speak to police officers about this, what they will say is that in many cases it is still a better alternative than they would have without (Tasers)," she said.

Residents on Lake Bevan Place in Brooks say Prentice was seen running down the street Wednesday night, knocking on doors and demanding to be let inside homes.

The RCMP and EMS were called and a Taser was deployed once, but it's not clear if it made contact with Prentice.

He quickly went into medical distress and was rushed to the Brooks Hospital, where he died later that night.