2 B.C. RCMP officers charged with manslaughter in Indigenous man's 2017 death
CTV
Two RCMP officers are accused of manslaughter in the 2017 death of an Indigenous man in Prince George, B.C., prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Two RCMP officers are accused of manslaughter in the 2017 death of an Indigenous man in Prince George, B.C., prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The BC Prosecution Service said in a statement Wednesday that constables Paul Ste-Marie and Jean Francois Monette have been charged with manslaughter.
Sgt. Jon Eusebio Cruz and constables Arthur Dalman and Clarence MacDonald are accused of attempting to obstruct justice.
Dale Culver, 35, an Indigenous man from the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Nations, was arrested in Prince George on July 18, 2017.
An RCMP release from the time says police received a report about a man casing vehicles and found a suspect who tried to flee on a bicycle.
B.C.'s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office, investigated the death and sent a recommendation of charges to the prosecution service in May 2020.
A report from the investigations office said there was a struggle when police tried to take the man into custody, other officers were called and pepper spray was used. Officers noticed the man appeared to have trouble breathing before he died while in police custody, the report said.