The province’s police watchdog has invoked its mandate after a man taken into custody by the Ontario Provincial Police in Pembroke went into medical distress while seated in the back of a cruiser.
The Special Investigations Unit says the incident began shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, when officers from the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP responded to a disturbance at a home on Pembroke Street West.
A 44-year-old man wanted on an outstanding warrant was arrested without incident. Police say they seized two loaded firearms and a quantity of suspected cocaine at the residence.
The man experienced medical distress after being placed in a cruiser and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Police say they cannot release further information while the SIU investigation is underway.