The 36-year-old Arthur man was father to six children; cause of death unknown
ARTHUR – He was a hard-working and loving father with a big laugh and a zest for life.
That’s how Faye Dzikewich describes her 36-year-old son Nathaniel Schofield, who died unexpectedly on July 10.
“He was full of life,” she said, and “lived for his children.
“That was just all taken away from him way too soon.”
Schofield was arrested at his Arthur home following a domestic dispute on July 9, his mother said.
He was held briefly at the OPP station in Teviotdale, and transferred to the Rockwood station the same night.
By 11:20am the next day, Schofield was dead at Guelph General Hospital.
The circumstances around his death are unclear, leaving loved ones considering a magnitude of possibilities.
“I’m completely in the dark,” his mother said. “I’ve had every scenario I could imagine go through my head.”
According to a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) press release, “In the morning of July 10, the man was observed to be in medical distress.
“First aid was administered, and Emergency Medical Services transported the man to a hospital in Guelph.”
Dzikewich said Schofield appeared to be in good health before the arrest – other than taking antibiotics months before for an eczema-related infection.
‘Family man’
“He was a family man,” Dzikewich said, with “six beautiful children:” 15-year-old Hayden; 14-year-old Cohen; 10-year-old Avah and Lydia; eight-year-old Aleks and two-year-old Keaton.
“They’re trying really hard to lean on each other,” Dzikewich said of how her grandchildren were coping in the days after their father’s death.
“I guess that’s all they can do, right?”
She said Hayden and Cohen are working hard to support their younger siblings, “keeping everybody strong.”
And they know their grandmother is “going to bat for them, trying to do everything I possibly can” to find answers, she told the Advertiser.
Dzikewich hired a lawyer who specializes in deaths that occur in police custody, “in hopes of getting the answers I need and deserve.”
On the night of Schofield’s arrest, Dzikewich said only one charge was laid, and no one was hurt in the domestic incident, which “wasn’t anything serious.”
The police offered Schofield’s girlfriend, Angelique Hunter, assistance, Dzikewich said, but she turned it down because “she was fine.
“Now, she’s blaming herself,” and is overwhelmed with anguish, she said.
Dzikewich has a close relationship with Hunter, and said “she’s hard to understand right now because she’s so emotional.”
OPP custody
“I don’t understand what the need was to bring him into custody, but they did,” Dzikewich said.
She called the OPP “right away” on Tuesday night, as soon as she heard Schofield was arrested.
“The officer let me know that Nathaniel was already being transported from [Teviotdale] to Rockwood OPP,” she said.
The Teviotdale officer then contacted the officers enroute, and Dzikewich was told her son “was calm” and he consented for them to give her updates.
Dzikewich said Schofield has no history of violence and “was a very laid back, chill, level guy.
“He was a very patient, calm person.
“Once he got to Rockwood that night, I had called Rockwood OPP to relay a message to Nathaniel to let him know I would come to Rockwood to pick him up” as soon as he was released, which she felt sure would follow his court appearance the next day.
Dzikewich spent most of July 10 sitting in a Guelph courtroom, where her son’s name was on the docket.
Shortly before 4pm, a message from Rockwood OPP sounded throughout the courtroom, Dzikewich said, informing the court that Schofield would not make an appearance, “because he had ‘just been rushed to Guelph General Hospital for a medical emergency.’
“I stood up in the courtroom and started asking ‘why?’” she said.
“The judge looked just as concerned as I was, relaying ‘the mother wants to know why,’” but Rockwood OPP said “‘we can’t give information.’”
‘No, no, no!’
Dzikewich, worried something terrible had happened, rushed out of the courtroom.
Then she got a call from the SIU, who said they were on their way, and that she needed to stay.
“I knew something was serious for them to be calling,” she said. “I was asking what happened, asking if my son was dead.”
She said the SIU wouldn’t tell her anything over the phone, repeating they were on their way and she needed to stay.
Then Hunter called, and told Dzikewich that Schofield was dead.
Dzikewich said she immediately collapsed. “I was crying. I was screaming, hitting the pavement. ‘No, no, no!’”
Someone had noticed her distress in the courtroom moments earlier and followed her outside.
“He came and picked me up, helped me sit down on my car seat, and hugged me,” Dzikewich said.
“He told me his name was Dean, and said he was going downtown to get help from a minister.”
The stranger left to get Dzikewich help, and the SIU arrived at the courthouse, as well as Dzikewich’s niece and her youngest son, Logan Gaines.
Gaines turned 25 on July 13 – three days after his brother’s death.
“He’s feeling the same way as I am,” Dzikewich said, wondering “What happened? Why did this happen? Why were things handled the way they were?”
Autopsy
After an interview with SIU investigators, Dzikewich spoke with an SIU support worker on the phone, who asked if she wanted to go to the hospital to see her son’s body.
Dzikewich agreed – she wanted “to check to see if there was any police brutality” or signs of sickness.
But the investigators said no.
“‘Nathaniel has already been transported to the coroner in Toronto,’” she was told, where an autopsy was scheduled for July 12.
However, Dzikewich said she later spoke with the coroner, who told her Schofield’s body was at Guelph General Hospital until after 5pm.
“‘[The coroner] was there and said the nurses were waiting for me,” Dzikewich told the Advertiser.
The autopsy was rescheduled for July 13, but Dzikewich said the SIU wouldn’t tell her why. She has requested a second autopsy be completed at her expense.
The SIU also didn’t give a clear reason for taking almost five hours to notify her of her son’s death.
Dzikewich asked the SIU support worker, “‘What was going on all day? Were you cleaning up their mess – the police’s mess?’”
She was told they didn’t have contact information for next of kin, which doesn’t make sense to her, as she had spoken with OPP officers the night before and multiple times that day, including one call around 1pm – almost two hours after Schofield’s death. “They had my information,” she said.
‘Shock and disbelief’
Dzikewich said Schofield loved fishing, skateboarding, and other outdoor sports and had a great sense of humour.
“His laughter sounded amazing,” she told the Advertiser, and provided a video of Schofield laughing while teaching his son Hayden skateboarding tricks.
Schofield worked as a roofer for most of his life, putting in long hours and forming strong friendships with his crew, Dzikewich said.
“He was very well loved,” she said. “Our whole family is very broken. A lot of his friends are broken. It’s very painful.
“Nobody ever thought in a million years that this would happen to Nathaniel. No one saw it coming.
“Everyone is in shock and disbelief.”
Dzikewich is making arrangements for her son to be laid to rest in Arthur.
https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/na ... -opp-cell/
Nathaniel Schofield dead after spending night in Rockwood OPP cell
Nathaniel Schofield dead after spending night in Rockwood OPP cell
Thomas, Administrator
OPP officer’s conduct may have led to Arthur man’s death: SIU
ROCKWOOD – Nathaniel Schofield, a seemingly healthy 36-year-old Arthur father of six, died in Rockwood OPP custody on July 10.
His death is currently being investigated by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates police misconduct.
“Born in 1990 of a crisis of public confidence in a system in which the police policed themselves, the SIU remains today at the forefront of civilian oversight of the police,” states director Joseph Martino on the SIU’s website.
In Schofield’s case, the SIU has “designated a subject official,” which means, according to spokesperson Kristy Denette, that Martino has opined an officer’s conduct appears “to have been the cause of the incident under investigation,” which led to Schofield’s death.
“Subject officials are invited, but cannot be legally compelled, to present themselves for an interview with the SIU and they do not have to submit their notes to the SIU,” Denette added.
“The SIU is currently reviewing video footage captured from inside the cells,” she told the Advertiser, and “four witness officials and three civilian employees” have also been designated.
Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said the “SIU discovered something on the video footage.”
‘Unprofessional’
Though the SIU promised her updates, Dzikewich learned about the designation of a subject officer and the video footage from a CBC reporter.
“[CBC] called me to tell me that the SIU emailed them to let them know that they had a subject that was caught on video” doing something that may have led to Nathaniel’s death, Dzikewich told the Advertiser.
She said she called the SIU and was eventually able to verify the information from the CBC.
Denette said the SIU did not share any information with the media about video of any officers and the Advertiser was unable to confirm the nature/content of the videos involved.
Scott Mills, spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police Association, said the union offers its condolences to “all who knew and loved Mr. Schofield,” but he urged everyone to avoid drawing any conclusions until the SIU investigation is complete.
“Rumour and innuendo of blame and fault will do nothing to alleviate the pain and suffering of all involved,” Mills said in an emailed statement.
“We are supporting our members throughout this process.”
Dzikewich said she is upset about how the SIU has managed the case from the get-go.
“Everything was handled so unprofessionally and mysteriously and doesn’t make sense to me,” she said.
“I don’t trust them at all – not until they give me reason to.”
Schofield was taken into OPP custody after a domestic incident in Arthur on July 9, and held overnight at the station in Rockwood.
In the morning, he “was observed to be in medical distress,” states an SIU press release.
“First aid was administered, and emergency medical services transported the man to a hospital in Guelph,” it continues.
He was pronounced dead at Guelph General Hospital at 11:20am.
But Dzikewich sat in a Guelph courtroom from 10:30am until 4pm waiting for her son, who was scheduled to appear.
Eventually the OPP called into the courtroom at about 4pm, Dzikewich said, “saying that my son was just rushed to hospital in distress.
“I still can’t wrap my head around it, to be honest … They had to have known he was dead since 11:20 that morning,” she said.
“I just don’t understand what they were doing all day while I sat in that courtroom.”
Dzikewich learned of her son’s death shortly after 4pm, when she got a call from his girlfriend.
SIU investigators arrived soon after and brought a distraught Dzikewich into their vehicle for questioning.
Schofield’s body was still at Guelph General Hospital at this time, Dzikewich said the coroner later told her, but the SIU investigators told her he was already en route to Toronto, so she couldn’t see him.
“Its all very disturbing how they handled it,” she said. “None of it makes sense.
A comforting funeral
Schofield’s funeral was held at Crawford Funeral Chapel in Arthur on July 19, and Dzikewich said there was an “excellent turnout.
“A lot of children came from the lacrosse teams,” she said, “because Nathaniel was big on attending lacrosse games with his kids.”
She said children brought in lacrosse sticks and fishing poles to lay around his casket, and friends enlarged “a lot of beautiful pictures” to display.
“There was a lot of family and friends from now and years gone by that congregated,” she said.
“It was very comforting. The funeral home did a really good job.”
One damper on the day was the number of OPP cruisers Dzikewich noticed around the funeral home.
“For the short time I was outside I did see about four OPP cars,” she said.
Dzikewich said that since her son’s death, she feels upset every time she sees OPP officers.
A candlelight memorial
On Aug. 4 at 8:30pm, people will gather across from the OPP station in Rockwood for a candlelit memorial in Schofield’s honour.
The event, organized by Dzikewich, is intended to show “love and support,” for Schofield.
“The plan is for everyone to congregate in memory of Nathaniel,” she said, to pay respects and to honour him.
“It’s first and foremost about giving our thoughts and prayers, our love and respect,” Dzikewich said, and feeling comforted by being near the place Schofield spent his last hours.
Dzikewich said all are welcome, including people who didn’t know Schofield, and she encourages attendees to “bring a sign, candle, lighter, or any other source of light.”
A friend of Dzikewich’s will bring flameless candles.
Dzikewich is hopeful for a good turnout.
“We will light up the street at dusk!” she states in an event page for the memorial.
Dzikewich said a longtime friend suggested she organize the event, “and I thought it was a great idea.
“It brings awareness to what happened,” she said, and “brings people together for comfort and love.”
For more information about the memorial, visit facebook.com/share/HmqrCfKi2j21zFxo.
Fundraiser
To contribute to a fundraiser for Schofield’s burial plot and tombstone in Arthur, and legal fees related to his death, visit gofundme.com/f/in-need-of-help-to-pay-for-funeral-lawyer-expenses.
Dzikewich said she has hired a lawyer who is helping her access information, including details about Schofield’s autopsy.
Though she hoped to pay for a second autopsy outside of the SIU investigation, Dzikewich said she did not raise enough money to make that possible.
But, having spoken with the coroner, she is “confident that the autopsy was at least done right.
“I feel like he was being truthful with me – very straightforward,” she said.
So far, almost $10,000 has been raised, covering the cost of Schofield’s funeral, Dzikewich said, which has “been a great support.”
She said many of the donations came from people who she does not know, and she appreciates the continued generosity.
https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/op ... death-siu/
His death is currently being investigated by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates police misconduct.
“Born in 1990 of a crisis of public confidence in a system in which the police policed themselves, the SIU remains today at the forefront of civilian oversight of the police,” states director Joseph Martino on the SIU’s website.
In Schofield’s case, the SIU has “designated a subject official,” which means, according to spokesperson Kristy Denette, that Martino has opined an officer’s conduct appears “to have been the cause of the incident under investigation,” which led to Schofield’s death.
“Subject officials are invited, but cannot be legally compelled, to present themselves for an interview with the SIU and they do not have to submit their notes to the SIU,” Denette added.
“The SIU is currently reviewing video footage captured from inside the cells,” she told the Advertiser, and “four witness officials and three civilian employees” have also been designated.
Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said the “SIU discovered something on the video footage.”
‘Unprofessional’
Though the SIU promised her updates, Dzikewich learned about the designation of a subject officer and the video footage from a CBC reporter.
“[CBC] called me to tell me that the SIU emailed them to let them know that they had a subject that was caught on video” doing something that may have led to Nathaniel’s death, Dzikewich told the Advertiser.
She said she called the SIU and was eventually able to verify the information from the CBC.
Denette said the SIU did not share any information with the media about video of any officers and the Advertiser was unable to confirm the nature/content of the videos involved.
Scott Mills, spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police Association, said the union offers its condolences to “all who knew and loved Mr. Schofield,” but he urged everyone to avoid drawing any conclusions until the SIU investigation is complete.
“Rumour and innuendo of blame and fault will do nothing to alleviate the pain and suffering of all involved,” Mills said in an emailed statement.
“We are supporting our members throughout this process.”
Dzikewich said she is upset about how the SIU has managed the case from the get-go.
“Everything was handled so unprofessionally and mysteriously and doesn’t make sense to me,” she said.
“I don’t trust them at all – not until they give me reason to.”
Schofield was taken into OPP custody after a domestic incident in Arthur on July 9, and held overnight at the station in Rockwood.
In the morning, he “was observed to be in medical distress,” states an SIU press release.
“First aid was administered, and emergency medical services transported the man to a hospital in Guelph,” it continues.
He was pronounced dead at Guelph General Hospital at 11:20am.
But Dzikewich sat in a Guelph courtroom from 10:30am until 4pm waiting for her son, who was scheduled to appear.
Eventually the OPP called into the courtroom at about 4pm, Dzikewich said, “saying that my son was just rushed to hospital in distress.
“I still can’t wrap my head around it, to be honest … They had to have known he was dead since 11:20 that morning,” she said.
“I just don’t understand what they were doing all day while I sat in that courtroom.”
Dzikewich learned of her son’s death shortly after 4pm, when she got a call from his girlfriend.
SIU investigators arrived soon after and brought a distraught Dzikewich into their vehicle for questioning.
Schofield’s body was still at Guelph General Hospital at this time, Dzikewich said the coroner later told her, but the SIU investigators told her he was already en route to Toronto, so she couldn’t see him.
“Its all very disturbing how they handled it,” she said. “None of it makes sense.
A comforting funeral
Schofield’s funeral was held at Crawford Funeral Chapel in Arthur on July 19, and Dzikewich said there was an “excellent turnout.
“A lot of children came from the lacrosse teams,” she said, “because Nathaniel was big on attending lacrosse games with his kids.”
She said children brought in lacrosse sticks and fishing poles to lay around his casket, and friends enlarged “a lot of beautiful pictures” to display.
“There was a lot of family and friends from now and years gone by that congregated,” she said.
“It was very comforting. The funeral home did a really good job.”
One damper on the day was the number of OPP cruisers Dzikewich noticed around the funeral home.
“For the short time I was outside I did see about four OPP cars,” she said.
Dzikewich said that since her son’s death, she feels upset every time she sees OPP officers.
A candlelight memorial
On Aug. 4 at 8:30pm, people will gather across from the OPP station in Rockwood for a candlelit memorial in Schofield’s honour.
The event, organized by Dzikewich, is intended to show “love and support,” for Schofield.
“The plan is for everyone to congregate in memory of Nathaniel,” she said, to pay respects and to honour him.
“It’s first and foremost about giving our thoughts and prayers, our love and respect,” Dzikewich said, and feeling comforted by being near the place Schofield spent his last hours.
Dzikewich said all are welcome, including people who didn’t know Schofield, and she encourages attendees to “bring a sign, candle, lighter, or any other source of light.”
A friend of Dzikewich’s will bring flameless candles.
Dzikewich is hopeful for a good turnout.
“We will light up the street at dusk!” she states in an event page for the memorial.
Dzikewich said a longtime friend suggested she organize the event, “and I thought it was a great idea.
“It brings awareness to what happened,” she said, and “brings people together for comfort and love.”
For more information about the memorial, visit facebook.com/share/HmqrCfKi2j21zFxo.
Fundraiser
To contribute to a fundraiser for Schofield’s burial plot and tombstone in Arthur, and legal fees related to his death, visit gofundme.com/f/in-need-of-help-to-pay-for-funeral-lawyer-expenses.
Dzikewich said she has hired a lawyer who is helping her access information, including details about Schofield’s autopsy.
Though she hoped to pay for a second autopsy outside of the SIU investigation, Dzikewich said she did not raise enough money to make that possible.
But, having spoken with the coroner, she is “confident that the autopsy was at least done right.
“I feel like he was being truthful with me – very straightforward,” she said.
So far, almost $10,000 has been raised, covering the cost of Schofield’s funeral, Dzikewich said, which has “been a great support.”
She said many of the donations came from people who she does not know, and she appreciates the continued generosity.
https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/op ... death-siu/
Thomas, Administrator
The SIU is currently investigating one subject official who, in the SIU director's opinion, may have caused his death
ROCKWOOD – A candlelight vigil for an Arthur man who died in police custody will be held across the road from the Rockwood OPP detachment.
Those who knew and those who didn’t know Nathaniel Schofield are invited to a memorial being held on Sunday starting at 8:30 p.m. across the street from the Rockwood OPP station on Wellington Road 27/Main Street North.
Schofield died on July 10 after being rushed to the hospital from the Rockwood OPP detachment.
The evening before, the 36-year-old had been arrested in Arthur following a domestic dispute and was first taken to the North Wellington Operations Centre in Teviotdale before being transferred to Rockwood that same night.
On the morning of July 10, he was reportedly found in medical distress and rushed to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The province’s police watchdog the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is currently investigating. SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said in an email the SIU in this case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said in a phone interview she doesn’t know much else about the investigation at this point but felt a memorial for her son was a good idea to bring awareness of what happened to him.
“It was a close friend’s idea that was with me and spent the evening with me after I found out that he died, just to be kind of close to where he spent his final hours,” Dzikewich said.
Throughout this experience, Dzikewich said she has mostly felt support from the community.
"I've had lots of support throughout this, wondering like I do what the heck is going on and why it was handled by the SIU with me the way that it was," she said.
A Facebook event page encourages attendees to bring signs, candles, lighters or any other source of light and any memories they have of him to share.
The vigil will run until about 10 p.m.
https://www.elorafergustoday.com/local- ... dy-9287940
Those who knew and those who didn’t know Nathaniel Schofield are invited to a memorial being held on Sunday starting at 8:30 p.m. across the street from the Rockwood OPP station on Wellington Road 27/Main Street North.
Schofield died on July 10 after being rushed to the hospital from the Rockwood OPP detachment.
The evening before, the 36-year-old had been arrested in Arthur following a domestic dispute and was first taken to the North Wellington Operations Centre in Teviotdale before being transferred to Rockwood that same night.
On the morning of July 10, he was reportedly found in medical distress and rushed to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The province’s police watchdog the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is currently investigating. SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said in an email the SIU in this case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said in a phone interview she doesn’t know much else about the investigation at this point but felt a memorial for her son was a good idea to bring awareness of what happened to him.
“It was a close friend’s idea that was with me and spent the evening with me after I found out that he died, just to be kind of close to where he spent his final hours,” Dzikewich said.
Throughout this experience, Dzikewich said she has mostly felt support from the community.
"I've had lots of support throughout this, wondering like I do what the heck is going on and why it was handled by the SIU with me the way that it was," she said.
A Facebook event page encourages attendees to bring signs, candles, lighters or any other source of light and any memories they have of him to share.
The vigil will run until about 10 p.m.
https://www.elorafergustoday.com/local- ... dy-9287940
Thomas, Administrator
Second vigil outside OPP station to be held for Nate Schofield
Schofield died in police custody in July
ROCKWOOD – There will be another vigil held for a local man who died in OPP custody from an unrevealed cause.
Organizers are planning to hold a gathering in front of the Rockwood OPP station on Sunday at 6 p.m. as a protest for a lack of answers surrounding Nathaniel Schofield's death.
Schofield, 36, died on July 10 following his arrest in Arthur the night before.
He was found in "medical distress" in his holding cell at the Rockwood OPP detachment before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Special Investigations Unit is handling the investigation into the case but has not released any findings as of yet.
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/ ... ld-9480727
ROCKWOOD – There will be another vigil held for a local man who died in OPP custody from an unrevealed cause.
Organizers are planning to hold a gathering in front of the Rockwood OPP station on Sunday at 6 p.m. as a protest for a lack of answers surrounding Nathaniel Schofield's death.
Schofield, 36, died on July 10 following his arrest in Arthur the night before.
He was found in "medical distress" in his holding cell at the Rockwood OPP detachment before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Special Investigations Unit is handling the investigation into the case but has not released any findings as of yet.
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/ ... ld-9480727
Thomas, Administrator
Second vigil outside OPP station to be held for Nate Schofield
Schofield died in police custody in July
ROCKWOOD – There will be another vigil held for a local man who died in OPP custody from an unrevealed cause.
Organizers are planning to hold a gathering in front of the Rockwood OPP station on Sunday at 6 p.m. as a protest for a lack of answers surrounding Nathaniel Schofield's death.
Schofield, 36, died on July 10 following his arrest in Arthur the night before.
He was found in "medical distress" in his holding cell at the Rockwood OPP detachment before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Special Investigations Unit is handling the investigation into the case but has not released any findings as of yet.
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/ ... ld-9480727
ROCKWOOD – There will be another vigil held for a local man who died in OPP custody from an unrevealed cause.
Organizers are planning to hold a gathering in front of the Rockwood OPP station on Sunday at 6 p.m. as a protest for a lack of answers surrounding Nathaniel Schofield's death.
Schofield, 36, died on July 10 following his arrest in Arthur the night before.
He was found in "medical distress" in his holding cell at the Rockwood OPP detachment before being taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Special Investigations Unit is handling the investigation into the case but has not released any findings as of yet.
https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/ ... ld-9480727
Thomas, Administrator
Schofield’s mother files complaint against OPP with oversight agency
GUELPH – The mother of an Arthur man who died in police custody has filed an official complaint against the OPP.
Nathaniel Schofield, a 36-year-old father of six, died on July 10 after spending a night at the Wellington OPP station in Rockwood. He was arrested the previous evening following a domestic dispute.
Schofield’s death is being investigated by the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
On Jan. 9 his mother, Faye Dzikewich, filed a complaint against the OPP with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, an independent civilian oversight agency responsible for receiving, managing and overseeing public complaints about police misconduct.
Dzikewich told the Advertiser she filed the complaint “because I believe they’ve definitely done something wrong.”
“They are here to serve and protect us. That is their job – to keep us safe,” she said.
Dzikewich said if police officers break the law, “their consequences should be just as severe, if not more severe, than a civilian that does the same thing.”
To date there is no evidence in this case of any OPP officers breaking a law.
In her complaint, Dzikewich states, “OPP officers have been discreditable, deceitful, neglectful in their duties and have unlawfully exercised their authority.”
She also alleges OPP officers gave false information about Schofield’s death to court officials, firefighters, paramedics and the SIU.
None of Dzikewich’s claims have been proven in court or substantiated by the SIU or any other oversight agency.
The complaint quotes reports from paramedics and Guelph General Hospital obtained by Dzikewich’s lawyer, Davin Charney.
Six months after Schofield’s death, Dzikewich said the most information she’s received about her son’s death has been from paramedics.
Dzikewich said she sat in a Guelph courtroom all day on July 10, waiting for her son to appear.
She said she called the Rockwood OPP station in the early afternoon to ask when her son would appear, but was not given a clear answer.
Schofield was pronounced dead at Guelph General Hospital at 11:20am.
“The person I spoke to must have known that Nathaniel had died, or at least that he had been taken by paramedics to the Guelph General Hospital,” Dzikewich states in the complaint.
Shortly after 4pm, Dzikewich states a Wellington County OPP official informed the courtroom Schofield would not be attending because he had just been rushed to hospital in medical distress.
“This was an outright lie,” Dzikewich alleges.
Minutes later, Dzikewich got a call from the SIU, telling her they were on their way to the courthouse and she needed to stay there.
In the 10 minutes it took for SIU officials to arrive, Dzikewich received a call from her son’s fiancé saying her son had died.
“I collapsed in the parking lot near my car … I was screaming ‘my son is dead,’” Dzikewich states in the complaint.
When the SIU investigators arrived, Dzikewich said she felt “pressured and obligated” to do a recorded interview.
“I was in shock and disbelief having just learned that my son had passed … and should definitely not have been asked to do an interview in that state of mind,” she states in the complaint.
But Dzikewich feels that “if the OPP were honest in the first place, none of that would have happened.”
Officials from the SIU and OPP declined the Advertiser’s requests for comment as the SIU investigation is ongoing.
The Ontario Provincial Police Association sent a brief email reply to the newspaper stating the union “fully supports the actions of our members in this tragic situation.”
Support group
Dzikewich expressed deep gratitude for the paramedics and firefighters who “did everything possible they could,” as well as for the media coverage of her son’s death and the support she has received from her lawyer.
This gratitude is part of what motivated her to launch a group to support other families in similar situations, “so they know they are not alone.”
With this group, Dzikewich hopes to push for legislation to expand and strengthen the SIU and increase consequences for officers charged with misconduct.
“That’s what I’m hoping for, just changing things to make them right,” she said.
https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/sc ... ht-agency/
Nathaniel Schofield, a 36-year-old father of six, died on July 10 after spending a night at the Wellington OPP station in Rockwood. He was arrested the previous evening following a domestic dispute.
Schofield’s death is being investigated by the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
On Jan. 9 his mother, Faye Dzikewich, filed a complaint against the OPP with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, an independent civilian oversight agency responsible for receiving, managing and overseeing public complaints about police misconduct.
Dzikewich told the Advertiser she filed the complaint “because I believe they’ve definitely done something wrong.”
“They are here to serve and protect us. That is their job – to keep us safe,” she said.
Dzikewich said if police officers break the law, “their consequences should be just as severe, if not more severe, than a civilian that does the same thing.”
To date there is no evidence in this case of any OPP officers breaking a law.
In her complaint, Dzikewich states, “OPP officers have been discreditable, deceitful, neglectful in their duties and have unlawfully exercised their authority.”
She also alleges OPP officers gave false information about Schofield’s death to court officials, firefighters, paramedics and the SIU.
None of Dzikewich’s claims have been proven in court or substantiated by the SIU or any other oversight agency.
The complaint quotes reports from paramedics and Guelph General Hospital obtained by Dzikewich’s lawyer, Davin Charney.
Six months after Schofield’s death, Dzikewich said the most information she’s received about her son’s death has been from paramedics.
Dzikewich said she sat in a Guelph courtroom all day on July 10, waiting for her son to appear.
She said she called the Rockwood OPP station in the early afternoon to ask when her son would appear, but was not given a clear answer.
Schofield was pronounced dead at Guelph General Hospital at 11:20am.
“The person I spoke to must have known that Nathaniel had died, or at least that he had been taken by paramedics to the Guelph General Hospital,” Dzikewich states in the complaint.
Shortly after 4pm, Dzikewich states a Wellington County OPP official informed the courtroom Schofield would not be attending because he had just been rushed to hospital in medical distress.
“This was an outright lie,” Dzikewich alleges.
Minutes later, Dzikewich got a call from the SIU, telling her they were on their way to the courthouse and she needed to stay there.
In the 10 minutes it took for SIU officials to arrive, Dzikewich received a call from her son’s fiancé saying her son had died.
“I collapsed in the parking lot near my car … I was screaming ‘my son is dead,’” Dzikewich states in the complaint.
When the SIU investigators arrived, Dzikewich said she felt “pressured and obligated” to do a recorded interview.
“I was in shock and disbelief having just learned that my son had passed … and should definitely not have been asked to do an interview in that state of mind,” she states in the complaint.
But Dzikewich feels that “if the OPP were honest in the first place, none of that would have happened.”
Officials from the SIU and OPP declined the Advertiser’s requests for comment as the SIU investigation is ongoing.
The Ontario Provincial Police Association sent a brief email reply to the newspaper stating the union “fully supports the actions of our members in this tragic situation.”
Support group
Dzikewich expressed deep gratitude for the paramedics and firefighters who “did everything possible they could,” as well as for the media coverage of her son’s death and the support she has received from her lawyer.
This gratitude is part of what motivated her to launch a group to support other families in similar situations, “so they know they are not alone.”
With this group, Dzikewich hopes to push for legislation to expand and strengthen the SIU and increase consequences for officers charged with misconduct.
“That’s what I’m hoping for, just changing things to make them right,” she said.
https://www.wellingtonadvertiser.com/sc ... ht-agency/
Thomas, Administrator
Formal complaint filed against OPP over man's death while in custody
GUELPH/WELLINGTON – It’s been more than six months since Nathaniel Schofield, 36, died after going into medical distress while in custody at the Rockwood OPP station.
In that time, Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said she hasn’t heard a word from the OPP or the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) about the investigation into his death which has led to her filing a complaint against the OPP with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA).
LECA is an independent civilian agency handling public complaints about police conduct in Ontario.
“I’m just trying to seek some justice,” she said by phone.
According to the SIU, Schofield died on July 10 after he was arrested the night before in Arthur and eventually held at the Rockwood station. He was observed in “medical distress” in his holding cell, given first aid treatment and taken to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 11:20 a.m.
Meanwhile, Dzikewich was in a Guelph courtroom waiting for her son’s bail hearing as hours passed by, she told GuelphToday shortly after her son’s death in a previous interview.
A phone call from the Rockwood OPP station played over a courtroom speaker which let Dzikewich know Schofield had been taken to the hospital.
Later she learned he had died hours before.
“I was lied to by the OPP from the beginning starting in the court room, in front of the whole court room over the air right to a justice saying that he was just rushed to hospital at four in the afternoon in medical distress,” she said. “He was already dead for hours. I called Rockwood OPP that day while I was waiting for him in court.”
Any wrongdoing in this case has not been proven and the SIU investigation is still ongoing. Few details have been released by the SIU but a spokesperson said in a past email the case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
“Everything now is just speculation … I have a pretty good idea that he was neglected but I don’t know what happened, I wish I knew,” she said.
She said she filed this complaint because she believes officers should have consequences for misconduct or killing someone and should be held to a higher standard because they enforce the law.
“They don’t get consequences like a civilian,” she said. “When a civilian breaks the law, I wouldn’t be sitting here six months later waiting on an investigation, I’m sure I’d be held in jail.”
Dzikewich said she’s felt a lot of support from the community and has learned a lot from other families and people who have been through something similar.
Multiple rallies and vigils have been held in Rockwood and Guelph calling for answers and justice over Schofield’s death.
https://www.villagereport.ca/village-pi ... y-10087922
In that time, Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said she hasn’t heard a word from the OPP or the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) about the investigation into his death which has led to her filing a complaint against the OPP with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA).
LECA is an independent civilian agency handling public complaints about police conduct in Ontario.
“I’m just trying to seek some justice,” she said by phone.
According to the SIU, Schofield died on July 10 after he was arrested the night before in Arthur and eventually held at the Rockwood station. He was observed in “medical distress” in his holding cell, given first aid treatment and taken to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 11:20 a.m.
Meanwhile, Dzikewich was in a Guelph courtroom waiting for her son’s bail hearing as hours passed by, she told GuelphToday shortly after her son’s death in a previous interview.
A phone call from the Rockwood OPP station played over a courtroom speaker which let Dzikewich know Schofield had been taken to the hospital.
Later she learned he had died hours before.
“I was lied to by the OPP from the beginning starting in the court room, in front of the whole court room over the air right to a justice saying that he was just rushed to hospital at four in the afternoon in medical distress,” she said. “He was already dead for hours. I called Rockwood OPP that day while I was waiting for him in court.”
Any wrongdoing in this case has not been proven and the SIU investigation is still ongoing. Few details have been released by the SIU but a spokesperson said in a past email the case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
“Everything now is just speculation … I have a pretty good idea that he was neglected but I don’t know what happened, I wish I knew,” she said.
She said she filed this complaint because she believes officers should have consequences for misconduct or killing someone and should be held to a higher standard because they enforce the law.
“They don’t get consequences like a civilian,” she said. “When a civilian breaks the law, I wouldn’t be sitting here six months later waiting on an investigation, I’m sure I’d be held in jail.”
Dzikewich said she’s felt a lot of support from the community and has learned a lot from other families and people who have been through something similar.
Multiple rallies and vigils have been held in Rockwood and Guelph calling for answers and justice over Schofield’s death.
https://www.villagereport.ca/village-pi ... y-10087922
Thomas, Administrator
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