The family of Boden Umpherville is growing frustrated with the proceedings, on day four of the inquest into the 2023 arrest that led to his death. Family member Chase Sinclair would like to see more civilian involvement in Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) investigations. “I think that at least if [civilians] don’t have the experience to say this and that, with respect to investigating situations, at least have the same amount and number of civilians present in the room while doing the investigation,” he told reporters Thursday afternoon outside the Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert. Weapons experts from the Saskatoon Police Service spoke about the tasers used by Prince Albert police and the gun found on Umpherville during the traffic stop that quickly turned into an arrest. According to expert testimony, the taser deployments occurred while Umpherville was still seated inside the vehicle. In testimony earlier this week, multiple officers maintained he continued to resist throughout the arrest. Nine total officers responded to the call, and about five at a time were involved with removing Umpherville from the vehicle and then handcuffing and restraining him. Firearms expert Michael Johnson said that a taser probe was found stuck in the magazine well of the firearm found holstered to Umpherville’s chest. He shared that was something he hadn’t seen before while examining a weapon. Johnson testified the 9mm semi-automatic had the capacity to fire 11 bullets and affirmed Umpherville was not legally permitted to carry. A knife found attached to Umpherville was also removed during the arrest. Neither weapon was drawn, but multiple officers testified they had reason to suspect Umpherville had intent to draw as they saw his hand would move toward his waist during the incident. Chris Pacey, the advanced care paramedic who responded to the call from Prince Albert police, also testified. He said a call came in for a patient who had been tased and bitten by a dog, about twelve minutes after police first initiated the traffic stop. Records from the night show EMS arrived on scene at 2:37 a.m., about 5 minutes after the call. Pacey testified the call did not come in as the highest possible category for urgency. He said Umpherville was restrained by police stomach down on the ground at the paramedic’s arrival. Pacey believed Umpherville was agitated and said he was not informed Umpherville had told officers he couldn’t breathe. By the time EMS placed Umpherville on a stretcher and brought him to the ambulance, Umpherville was without a pulse. Police removed his handcuffs to assist EMS with CPR in the back of the ambulance. Umpherville would remain on life support for weeks. The inquest is scheduled to end Friday.
