Family of man who fell to his death in Toronto say police failed him
Global News
At an event on Thursday, at the location where Taresh Bobby Ramroop died, his family said he needed medical attention, not police on Oct. 13 when he fell.
The family of a man who died falling from an apartment in Toronto after a negotiation with officers have called for the Toronto police to be abolished.
At an event on Thursday, at the location where Taresh Bobby Ramroop died, his family said he needed medical attention, not a police response on Oct. 13 when he fell.
A statement issued on behalf of the family alleged that “police staged an hours-long standoff which ended after Taresh tried to escape from a window in his Jane/Finch highrise apartment and fell to his death.”
Toronto police deny that was how things played out. “At no time was there any confrontation, a ‘stand-off’ or physical contact between the officers and the man,” the force said.
The province’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), is investigating the events leading up to the fatal fall.
According to the SIU, police were called to the building at around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 13 “for concerns of a man throwing objects from a balcony to the ground below.”
Toronto police said members of the public reported “seeing furniture and other items, including an air conditioning unit, being thrown from a top floor apartment and landing near a reported daycare on the street level.”
The SIU said that three officers attempted to negotiate with the man before they were joined by three additional officers from the emergency task force.