This weekend in Toronto, a 23 year old man was in an apartment building, knocking on several doors. (No reason revealed, as yet.) Someone called the cops.

The police arrived and wanted to arrest him, but apparently he protested. So to prove that "might is right", they pepper-sprayed him in the face.

The man collapsed and died on the street a few minutes later, in front of a small crowd of very appalled onlookers (who are most anxious to talk with reporters, thank goodness!).

The SIU (Special Investigations Unit) of the Toronto Police Force, have been very busy all weekend talking extensively to the media, all the while saying absolutely nothing, not even the man's name!

I'm so angry, because in 1998, we had a huge Coroner's Inquest into the death of Robert "Tex" Gentles, who was an asthmatic inmate at Kingston Pen, who was maced and pepper sprayed in the face, and he also died within moments.

The Coroner's jury then, made something like 30 recommendatations concerning RESTRICTIONS on the use of such sprays (and more to the point, the NON-USE of them!) Doesn't anyone listen? What is the point of spending millions of dollars on Coroner's Juries, if nothing changes as a result of their findings?

Tex's mother, Carmetta, must be reliving her son's death all over again, with this news this weekend. My heart just breaks for her, as it does also for this newest mom now mourning her son's death also!

Menolly

This is so sad.

That is awful. :(

That is so sickening and sad.

what are they doing....emptying the can in their fact.... A spray or two is all that is necessary.... More than that will kill anyone.... Maybe this is not such a good thing..

Donna

That is horrible. Human beings can sure be cruel. Annie

accidents happen...as Shakespeare would say "to spray or not to spray, that is the question."

that is sick, that stuff is so dangerous cuz most people do not know how to use it..

That is such a tragedy....my heart goes out to his mother!

my heart goes out to the mother also. this guy was only 23? and they don't even have the nerve to give the poor guys name. a big lack of respect!

:(

That's sad. How can you die from pepper spray? Are the sure that's all they did?

Yeah, pepper spray has been known to kill.... thankfully, it's relatively rare, and in many of the cases the victim had some sort of medical condition that exacerbated the effects of the pepper spray. Here's some information from The Toronto Star (newspaper)....

SIU Silent On Why Man Died
By Jim Wilkes...STAFF REPORTER

The province's Special Investigations Unit is withholding autopsy results of a man who died after being pepper-sprayed by police early Sunday.

Nicholas Blentzas, 24, was dead on arrival at Toronto East General Hospital after paramedics were unable to revive him.

Toronto police went to Blentzas' apartment building on Thorncliffe Park Dr. shortly after midnight Sunday to answer a disturbance call.

Tenants had reported a man was pounding on an apartment door, but building officials said yesterday that Blentzas was pounding on the door to his own 17th-floor unit, where he lived with his brother and mother.

Blentzas' relatives have said he was suffering from a bipolar disorder what used to be called manic depression and was taking lithium to control outbursts associated with the illness.

Police attempted to subdue Blentzas and used pepper spray in an effort to control him. He collapsed a short time later.

The SIU, which investigates cases of serious injury or death involving police, has named five subject officers in the case, spokesperson Rose Hong said yesterday.

"We are conducting a criminal investigation here," she said.

Six SIU investigators assigned to the case canvassed residents of the apartment building yesterday for information about police contact with Blentzas, both inside and outside the building early Sunday.

Hong said results of yesterday's autopsy are being withheld because officials still haven't interviewed some witnesses.

"Mr. Blentzas' cause of death is an important aspect to our investigation," she said. "We don't want to be tainting witness statements and affecting the integrity of what we're doing."

Hong said SIU investigators will probe possible medical reasons or "any actions on the part of the police officers that may have precipitated this man's death the key word being may."

Thanks for the update Toe.

Where are you? How come you're reading the same newspapers I am?

Dont'cha love the statement "We don't want to affect the integrity of what we're doing?"

BAFFLEGAB!

Menolly