The 2016 death of a former BCIT international student who died in custody after being Tasered by police will be probed at a public inquest in July.
Juan Carlos Salvany Sailes, a Venezuelan national and permanent resident of Costa Rica, came to Canada to study at BCIT in 2014, according to a B.C. Coroners Service press release.
Two years later, on Oct. 19, 2016, he died after going into medical distress while in the custody of Coquitlam RCMP.
Police had been called to the 1500 block of Balmoral Avenue at about 11 a.m. that day after a number of calls about a man trying to break into homes on the street, according to a report by the Independent Investigations Office.
Police located the man, Salvany Sailes, inside a residence.
He appeared to be in crisis and severely injured, according to the police watchdog’s report.
Police told media at the time attempts had been made to calm Salvany Sailes down, but officers eventually deployed a stun gun and took him into custody.
He went into medical distress soon after and was taken to hospital, where he died.
The IIO cleared the officers involved of wrongdoing in an Oct. 27, 2016 report, concluding the injuries that caused Salvany Sailes’s death were sustained before his contact with police and the Taser.
Because the former BCIT student died while in police custody, however, a public inquest is mandatory under the Coroners Act.
The inquest will take place on July 9 at the Burnaby Cororners’ Court (20th floor, 4720 Kingsway, Metrotower II).
Coroner Susan Barth and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses under oath to determine the facts of his death, and the jury will then get a chance to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances.
“The B.C. Coroners Service looks to gather the facts surrounding why a death took place and is not a fault-finding agency,” states a press release. “It provides an independent service to the family, community, government agencies and other organizations.”
