Almost five years to the day after he died, the Alberta government has released the findings of a fatality inquiry into the death of St. Albert resident Mark John Milakovic.
Milakovic, 25, died of coronary artery disease, with drug use as a contributing factor, in the University of Alberta Hospital on July 13, 2006, five days after being arrested by members of the Edmonton Police Service following a carjacking.
However, even though police officers admitted to using force to subdue Milakovic at the time of the arrest, the judge in the inquiry made no comment on whether or not the amount of force used was appropriate.
“It is not possible to arrive at a conclusion regarding the characterization of police actions as appropriate or excessive or anything in between,” Judge Lloyd E. Malin wrote. “It was a dynamic situation unfolding quickly and involving many police officers. That the recollections of bystanders differ is not unexpected or surprising.”
On July 8, 2006, at around 11 a.m., Milakovic approached a green Toyota vehicle stopped at a red light on westbound 137 Avenue near 128 Street in Edmonton and, after a brief struggle, forced the driver out of the car and drove off.
EPS members spotted the car later and boxed it in at MacDonald Drive and 102 Street. There, Milakovic was instructed to show his hands and get out of the vehicle, but he refused, fuelling fears he might have had a weapon. Eventually, police got the driver’s side door open and dragged Milakovic out.
In getting Milakovic out of the car, the report notes, a police officer punched him once in the face. He continued to display “extraordinary strength and resistance,” and in an effort to subdue him, an officer struck him approximately four times with the heel of his open-palm hand and then kneed him in the leg, arm, side and head.
Numerous witnesses testified at the inquiry about the amount of force used, but their accounts varied, from those who found it appropriate to those who found it excessive. Dr. Bernard Bannach, the province’s assistant chief medical examiner, testified that abrasions were found around Milakovic’s forehead, right eyebrow, left knee and ankles, but “the superficial evidence of trauma … did not cause or contribute to the initial cardiac arrest.”
After being subdued, police asked Milakovic if he was on anything, to which he replied “coka,” suggesting cocaine. Toxicology reports entered at the inquiry showed the presence of cocaine and cocaine breakdown products in Milakovic’s blood, along with smaller amounts of other drugs.
Within a few seconds of answering that question, the report notes, Milakovic went limp, had no pulse and was not breathing. Bannach later determined he had either had a heart attack or cardiac arrhythmias. He also testified that one of Milakovic’s coronary arteries was 90 per cent blocked, while the rest were 25 per cent blocked.
Police immediately began CPR on Milakovic at the scene before turning his care over to paramedics, who managed to artificially restore his breathing en route to the U of A Hospital, although the report notes that “intubation was difficult and was successful only on the third attempt.”
Milakovic arrived at the emergency room at 11:43 a.m. and was stabilized in the intensive care unit at 3:30 p.m. He died at 2:55 a.m. on July 13, 2006.
The only recommendation Malin makes in the report to prevent similar deaths is that police officers “be made fully aware of and specifically trained to assess the patency of airway passages (by the return of spontaneous breathing or visible chest risings) and clear airway blockages (through head and jaw tilts) as part of CPR procedures.”
