Alberta police clear N.W.T. RCMP in Fort Liard death, but questions linger for some

An Alberta police force has cleared Fort Liard, N.W.T.,RCMP of wrongdoing in the death of Bradley Berreault last summer, but some say RCMP did not do enough to care for the man while in custody.

Berreault, 34, and another personnot mentioned in a statement from the Camrose Police Service released on Friday, were taken into custody on the grounds of public intoxication on June 25, 2017.

They had been found near a rolled over truck in Fort Liard, but denied having anything to do with it. Berreaultwas reportedly not wearing any shoes.

But Berreault was not arrested for being involved in the vehicle roll-over.

"The decision was made to take him into custody pursuant to the Liquor Act until he was sober and better able to care for himself," the statement reads.

Berreault was released later that evening. The next morning, police received a report from a residence where he was sleeping that Berreault was not breathing. Medical staff and RCMP attended the scene, and Berreault was pronounced dead at approximately 9 a.m. on June 26.

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Fort Liard RCMP requested a review of the circumstances surrounding the man's death as he had been in police custody less than 12 hours earlier.

The Camrose Police Service"concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that the actions of the RCMP officers who interacted with this individual contributed to his untimely death."

'Police reviewing their own'

"It's cops reviewing cops, right?" said Chrystal Fincaryk, Berreault's ex-girlfriend and mother of two children with him.

"That's how I feel. It's police reviewing their own people. I feel like they aren't going to be putting them in hot water."

Fincaryk, who lives in Fort Nelson, B.C., said Berreault was in Fort Liard to visit family before returning to report for work as a heavy equipment operator in Grande Prairie, Alta.

Fincaryk said she never received the police report she asked for in August, but after reading the statement from Camrose police and an Edmonton autopsy report on Berreault's death, she said questions remain for herand others in Berreault's family who CBC contacted. They confirmed their concerns,but did not want to speak on the record.

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The autopsy report states Berreault died of an underlying heart condition dilated cardiomyopathy possibly aggravated by obesity, sleep apnea and alcohol consumption.

The report also states Berreault had "superficial blunt force type injuries on the head, trunk, and extremities," but that these injuries showed no internal damage that would have been "causative or contributory to death."

No 'due diligence'

Fincaryk said that despite the autopsy report, she remains concerned Berreault should have been checked out if police suspected he was involved in a serious vehicle accident. He needed medical attention, she reasons, not a few hours in the police custody.

"I just feel like they didn't do their due diligence in getting him checked out," she said.

"Was he drinking? We don't even know."

The autopsy report stated "toxicology testing of postmortem blood was negative for alcohol or drugs."

Fincaryk wonders if this means RCMP in Fort Liard only assumed Berreault was intoxicated and needed to sleep it off when he may have been suffering from a medical conditioneither from the accident, or an underlying one.

According to a spokesperson with the Alberta Government's Department of Justice and Solicitor General, "alcohol and most drugs do not continue to break down (dissipate) immediately after death occurs," although over a long period of time, alcohol may disappear as the body decomposes.

In the autopsy report dated June 28, two days after Berreault's death, his body is described as in "good preservation."

But Lee Foreman, deputy chief with the Camrose Police Service told CBC there was enough time between Berreault's arrest and his death for any alcohol in his system to disappear and give him a clean toxicology report.

"The RCMP indicated there was obvious signs of intoxication with the deceased when he was arrested and of course that alcohol would have dissipated from his system by the time he would have passed," Foreman said.

Berreault was, according to the autopsy report, last known to be alive at 6 a.m. when his mother awoke him because of his snoring. Approximately three hours later, when his mother again tried to rouse him, he did not respond.

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According to the autopsy report, he was taken into custody during the evening, meaning there were anywhere between approximately 12 and 15 hours between the accident and Berreault's death.

"I'm not surprised that there was no longer any alcohol in his system," Foreman said.

But the fact remains Fort Liard RCMP made no blood alcohol tests after arresting the two. Foreman said RCMP were not free to do a blood alcohol test because they weren't able to connect either of themto the rolled over vehicle, or "at least determine who the driver was."

"Both denied being in the vehicles so therefore they could not pursue an impaired [driving] investigation," Foreman said.

"I'm not aware of any police services that would do a breathalyzer test on a person for public intoxication. There is no right to ask for a breath test for public intoxication. Obviously if someone is driving, we have a right to ask for that, but not for a public intoxication situation."

But Foreman said he has no doubt RCMP were not mistaken in their assessment of Berreault's intoxication.

"I think it is quite obvious this fellowwas intoxicated, he was walking around outside with no shoes on, and how he presented himself. I don't think there is any question, even after the fact, that he had been drinking."

Other explanations?

But Fincaryk offers another possible explanation.

Berreault may have been experiencing a diabetic episode, she said. Fincaryk said Berreault, described in the autopsy report as morbidly obese and on the verge of being diagnosed a diabetic.

"They say if you're a diabetic that you kind of act like you're drunk, so I don't know if he was actually even drinking because they never did the test."

CBC has not confirmed if Berreault was seeking medical treatment for symptoms related to diabetes.

In any case, Fincaryk feelsBerreault should have received medical attention. He could have hit his head in the vehicle during the accident and had beenacting strangely as a result, or he could have been suffering from some other medical episode, she says.

Instead, he was temporarily jailed for public intoxication.

"He was a hard worker," she said. "He worked hard and provided us a really good life. We would ask for anything and he would get it for us."

Fincaryksaid she's hired a lawyer because she wants to see the original police report.

The Coroner's Service of the Northwest Territories has not released a review of Berreault's death. CBC was told the officeis still reviewing the case.

RCMP in the N.W.T. declined to comment on the report when CBC requested an interview with Fort Liard RCMP.