Inquest called into death of man punched, kicked by police

Manitoba's chief medical examinerhas called an inquest into the death of a man who was in police custody at the time.

Richard Kakish, 44, was arrested Aug. 9, 2017, and taken to the Winnipeg remand centre, where hecomplained of pain and was taken to Seven Oaks General Hospital for an assessment.

He was X-rayed and a doctordetermined there were no breaks or fractures to the ribs. Kakishwas discharged early thefollowing morningand returned to remand.

His condition deteriorated over the following days and on Aug. 11, he went into medical distress. He was rushedto the Health Sciences Centre where had surgery to remove his spleen but died on Aug. 13.

An autopsy determined the cause to becomplications of hypovolemic shock due to Kakish'sspleen being tornby blunt trauma of the torso. His death was listed as homicide, although no one has beencharged.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba was notified and looked into the incident, since it involved police.

The IIUreport, released in October 2018, stated theofficers who arrested Kakish suspected he was carrying a firearm in a duffel bag and ran after him.

Once one of the officers caught up with him, he kicked Kakishin the mid-section of his left side and punched him in the face, the IIUfound, noting that in Kakish'sduffel bag, police did finda semi-automatic rifle with an attached scope.

The officer who kicked Kakishtold the IIUthat Kakishhad kicked and attempted to punch him, too. A second officer also punched Kakish in his abdomen.

Althoughdoctors determined there were no breaks or fractures to Kakish's ribs, it was later notedon his medical file that he actually did suffera fractured rib, according to the IIU, which determined the police were not made aware of that.

The pathologist who conducted the autopsy concluded Kakish'sinjuries wereconsistent with a powerful blow to his left side.

The IIUreport cleared the officers of any charges.

However, the inquest has been called todeterminewhat, if anything, can be done to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future, a release from the medical examiner's office stated.

Information as to the date, time, and location of the inquest has yet to bedetermined by the chief judge of the provincial court.