Timmins officer cleared in death of local teen on 'bad acid trip'

The SIU is called on to investigate any time someone is killed or injured in an incident involving police in Ontario. (CTV Northern Ontario file)

Ontario's police watchdog has concluded its investigation into the death of a Timmins teen who was taken to hospital in a cop car in medical distress due to a 'bad acid trip.'

The 16-year-old boy's sister, who thought he was having a seizure, called 911 on April 4, 2021, at 12:41 a.m. saying he was "freaking out and acting erratically," according to the Ontario Special Investigation Unit's (SIU) report.

Known to smoke pot, the family learned he had allegedly taken eight "hits of acid," the SIU said.

The teen told police he had consumed "blue juice," the street name for a central nervous system depressant called gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and may contain "magic mushrooms." GHB is used to treat narcolepsy.

An autopsy revealed a high level, 6.1 ng/mL, of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Tetrahydrocannabinol and hydroxybutyrate.

When emergency crews arrived at the house seven minutes later, he was being held down on the floor of his bedroom by his father and had begun to froth at the mouth.

Because he was too agitated to go to the hospital by ambulance, he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, brought out of the house and placed in the back of a Timmins Police Service cruiser.

During the five minutes it took to get to Timmins and District Hospital located 3.7 kilometres away, the teen's upper body fell into the foot well of the back seat and he kicked his feet frantically for about two minutes and then stopped moving.

Once at the hospital a paramedic performed chest compressions on him before he was taken to the intensive care unit where he was subsequently placed on life support.

The teen passed away the next day.

His death was caused by not enough blood or oxygen to his brain.

"Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to cardiopulmonary arrest in an agitated, obese, handcuffed teenaged boy in a confined space, with LSD toxicity," the autopsy said.

"This boy was clinically obese (BMI 33.6); his placement in right lateral position in a confined space in the back of a police vehicle, along with being handcuffed and agitated, may have contributed to his sudden death. The precise mechanism is unclear."

In his report about the incident, SIU Director Joseph Martino said while the officer did not act with the urgency the matter required when transporting the victim to hospital, there are no reasonable grounds to charge them with a criminal offence in connection with the teen's death.

Find the full report here.

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