Watchdog report says RCMP acted appropriately during arrest that turned into brawl

Mounties in northeastern Alberta won’t be facing charges after a tense — and ultimately fatal — arrest on a residential deck quickly escalated into a full-on brawl that saw police “rag dolled” by a man wired on meth and adrenalin.

Alberta’s independent police watchdog says in a report issued Friday that RCMP in Lloydminster used appropriate force when they responded to a 911 call in May 2021 about an intoxicated man armed with a machete who was refusing to leave a family member’s home.

The report from the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says that when the first two officers arrived, the front door was locked and a woman told them from a basement window that she was too scared to come up to let them in. A teen girl eventually opened the door, and the officers said they were told the man was upstairs on a deck.

Slowly, with guns drawn, the officers made their way up a narrow staircase and called out to the man, who they could hear mumbling. A machete was on a table inside the kitchen, and the man was outside on the deck.

The officers said they went outside and told the man to put his hands on his head. He co-operated initially, they said, but the situation changed suddenly after they got one of his wrists handcuffed. 

As they were placing the cuffs on his other wrist, the officers said he turned aggressively and repeatedly punched one of them in the head and face. That officer threw punches back, but the man “was not responding to them.”

“(The first officer) recalled being thrown down to the ground numerous times – either from the blow of being struck by (the man) or being physically tossed by him. He expressed surprise that (he) was able to move and toss around both himself and (the second officer) so easily, given their size,” the report states.

The first officer said he was thrown back into the doorway of the home and landed on his back. He got up and rejoined the fight, and pushed the button on his radio to signal for backup.

The second officer said he managed to land his right knee on the man’s ribs, and the man responded by tossing him headfirst into the wall of the house, such that his feet left the ground. The officer pulled out his pepper spray and attempted to deploy it, but it failed and the man ripped it out of his hand and broke it. 

He said he and the other officer were essentially being “rag dolled” by the man, who they said was grabbing for weapons on their service belts. The man got one of their collapsible batons, but one of the officers chopped it out of his hand before he could use it. An officer said he could also feel the man grabbing for his gun.

One officer tried a carotid control technique, or a sleeper hold, but the man managed to move his neck, which kept him from being rendered unconscious. Still, the officers were able to subdue him enough to apply handcuffs until more officers arrived.

Despite attempts by the other officers to de-escalate the situation and maintain physical control of each corner of the man’s body, he “persisted in kicking his legs violently, trying to roll his body, and yelling sexually explicit comments and profanities,” the report says.

“At one point, (the man) began oddly bending his own fingers such that (the first officer) felt the need to move back in and separate (his) hands to prevent him from breaking them.”

The man’s struggle slackened and then one of the officers began CPR, the ASIRT report says. He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The medical examiner’s report concluded methamphetamine toxicity combined with the struggle with police was the immediate cause of death. The report noted the combined effect of adrenalin, released during the fight-or-flight response, and methamphetamine can result in lethal cardiac arrhythmias. 

Cameras located in police vehicles weren’t able to capture images of the struggle, the report notes, but a microphone on the first officer recorded audio of the incident that corroborated the officers’ testimony.

The report says neither of the initial responding officers were required to speak with investigators, but it says they supplied written statements and answered questions in an interview. 

“Based on the evidence, there is no reasonable interpretation other than that the subject officers were acting to defend themselves, and each other, when they physically grappled with (the man) and delivered strikes and unsuccessfully administered the carotid control technique,” the report says.

“The subject officers’ use of force was proportionate, necessary and reasonable. As a result, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that an offence was committed.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2026.