A British Columbia coroner’s inquest will hear details about a bizarre incident that left a 52-year-old man dead in police handcuffs in Metro Vancouver nearly five years ago.
As part of the inquest, a jury will hear evidence and make recommendations seeking to prevent deaths under similar circumstances as those that led to the death of Melvin Viggo Gary Erickson in Coquitlam in 2019.
The local RCMP detachment has released few details about the incident, but a police watchdog report the following year found no reasonable grounds to recommend charges against the Mounties in the man’s death.
The report from the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. relied on witness statements and evidence gathered from the scene, which indicated police were called to Erickson’s home at around 5 p.m. on Dec. 22, 2019.
Erickson reportedly fled the home, running down a hill onto a highway, where he tried to flag down …