‘I don’t want to die’: More details released on death of man in Calgary police custody at SE hotel

A man who died after being arrested by Calgary police at a southeast hotel last week repeatedly told responding officers that he didn’t want to die, according to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Teams (ASIRT).

New information was released by the police watchdog Wednesday amid an investigation into the death of a man at the Carriage House Hotel and Conference Centre on Macleod Trail SE on Sept. 17.

The man has been identified by family on social media as 42-year-old Jon Wells, a member of the Blood Tribe in Southern Alberta.

ASIRT says just before 1 a.m. last Tuesday, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) responded to a call on the non-emergency line from a Carriage House employee asking for help in removing an unwanted person from the building’s lobby.

A single officer was the first on scene and entered the lobby to find Wells standing near the check-in desk. ASIRT says the interaction between Wells and the officer was captured by body-worn camera.

Wells is standing with his hands in full view of the officer and doesn’t have any weapons.

The police officer then tells Wells to leave the lobby by using words such as “out” and “walk out.”

Wells continues to stand in the same spot and looks confused, including trying to pick up items off the floor that clearly aren’t there, according to ASIRT.

After speaking to Wells for about 30 seconds, the officer points his taser at the man and orders him to leave the hotel lobby.

The man responded by raising his hands, saying he’ll leave, and “asking the officer not to shoot him,” according to ASIRT.

Wells walks slowly towards the main door with his hands raised, at which point he says “I don’t want to die.”

ASIRT says the officer tells Wells to stop talking and continues to point the taser at him.

At this point, two more officers get to the scene and walk through the main door towards Wells.

Wells stops walking and continues to say that he doesn’t want to die.

The first officer then puts his taser in the holster and grabs the man.

“At no point during the interaction had the male been identified, nor was he ever told he was being detained or under arrest,” ASIRT says.

Wells physically resists being grabbed by the officer and is then tackled by a second officer, who punches him in the head while they are both on the ground.

During this time, two other officers taser the man.

ASIRT explains over the next three-and-a-half-minutes, the three officers and Wells are involved in a fight where various types of force are used by police.

Wells was eventually detained on the floor, at which point handcuffs and leg restraints are put on by the officers.

‘Numerous’ other CPS officers had arrived on scene to assist at this point, ASIRT adds.

Police note Wells is bleeding from the mouth and vomiting and respond by applying a spit mask while he is lying face down on the floor.

EMS then arrive on scene and administer a sedative to Wells with a needle about seven minutes after he was handcuffed.

Wells was then left face down in handcuffs, leg restraints, and a spit mask for about three minutes until those on scene recognize he is unresponsive.

EMS then provided medical care, according to ASIRT, before Wells was declared dead at the scene.

ASIRT is working to examine the use of force by officers.

Wells was the seventh Indigenous person to die while in the custody of police officers across the country from Aug. 29 to Sept. 17.

CityNews has reached out to Wells’ family for comment.