OTTAWA — The family of an Ottawa man who died after being arrested by police eight years ago is hoping the coroner’s inquest investigating his death will improve how police respond to calls involving a mental health crisis.
The inquest into the July 2016 death of 38-year-old Abdirahman Abdi began Monday morning and his family issued a statement which was read by their lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon.
“What happened to our beloved brother could have been prevented, and we have been disappointed in the lack of progress made with respect to the implementation of the mental health response by Ottawa police,” they wrote.
“We sincerely hope that no other family has to go through this in the future.”
The inquest is mandated by law because he was injured while in policy custody. It is set to last four weeks.
The jury is not tasked with determining legal responsibility but it can make recommendations to avoid similar deaths in the future.
Abdi died after police officers responded to a 911 call reporting that a man was groping women outside a coffee shop in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighbourhood.
Inquest lawyer Alessandra Hollands told the inquest Monday that Abdi ran from the scene, and officers took him to the ground and hit him when they caught up with him outside his apartment.
He later died in hospital. One officer was charged in the case but was found not guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in 2020.
The inquest, through an agreed statement of facts, heard Monday that Abdi appeared to be in a mental health crisis when he interacted with patrons at a coffee shop in the neighbourhood, with multiple women saying he grabbed their breasts without consent.
Staff at the coffee shop called police after the attacks on patrons inside, and had attempted to keep him from re-entering the building.
In a 911 call played for the inquest, an employee from the shop said Abdi was being aggressive, and that he had been coming in for the past few weeks making staff feel uncomfortable.
They said Abdi continued attacking people on the street after he left the store.
The inquest is expected to hear what happened after police were called, and a jury is expected to come to a conclusion about how and why he died after that interaction.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.