MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Ontario's police watchdog has cleared Toronto cops in the death of a man who was dangling outside a fifth-floor hospital window before he was pulled to safety.
The Special Investigations Unit says it began preliminary inquiries into the injuries sustained by the 42-year-old man at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre on Jan. 24.
It says the man -- who was admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act on Jan. 23 for with self-inflicted injuries, fled his room and assaulted a nurse before barricading himself in another patient's room.
He later broke a window and climbed through but hospital staff were able to grab him as he hung outside the window and police officers then helped pull him to safety.
The SIU says medical staff injected the man with a sedative but he was then found to be not breathing, so CPR was performed and he was placed in the critical care unit in serious condition. He died Tuesday in hospital.
Ian Scott, director of the Special Investigations Unit, says the information collected shows the man's injuries were caused before police arrived and that the officers did not contribute to his injuries or his death.
The SIU is an arm's-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
