A public inquest into the death of a Prince Albert man following police use of force began Monday.
Boden Umpherville, 40, was pulled out of a vehicle while officers used tasers, batons and pepper spray after a traffic stop escalated near the 1200 block of 13th Street West on April 1, 2023.
Police stopped the vehicle because it had been reported as stolen. While investigating, police said they discovered warrants out for the arrest of Umpherville, who was a passenger in the vehicle, on drug charges and breach of release.
Following the incident, Umpherville was taken to hospital, but after weeks on life support, he succumbed to his injuries.
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Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) investigator Kevin Montgomery was the first to take the stand at the inquest at the Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert.
Montgomery described the scene as “complete chaos” with every officer on duty responding after an officer issued an emergency button alert following a struggle to remove Umpherville from the vehicle.
Montgomery added, “the amount of force was reflective of the amount of effort to flee.”
While SIRT’s investigation originally found no criminal wrongdoing by police, Prince Albert Police Service Deputy Chief Farica Prince says the police force is ready to implement recommendations.
“The death of Boden has impacted all corners of our community, including our organization. It’s been a difficult process, to even lead us here today to the start of this inquest,” said Prince.
“We’re always open to exploring how policing as a profession can do better in terms of practices or policies. And if we’re able to identify some ways that we can do that this week, then we’re open to that.”
The inquest is slated to continue throughout the week, with a forensic pathologist and police officers expected to take the stand next.
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