Police officers involved in the incident testified on day three of the inquest into Boden Umpherville’s death. The 40-year-old Saskatchewan father died in hospital in April 2023 following an arrest for outstanding warrants during a traffic stop. The testimony on Wednesday included police accounts of the incident from beginning to end. The traffic stop was for a vehicle that had been reported stolen hours earlier to Prince Albert police, although it was found with the owner who reported it stolen in the driver’s seat. The owner had not cancelled her report to police for a stolen vehicle after she had recovered it. Initially in the passenger seat, Umpherville first provided the Prince Albert police officers with a fake name before he was recognized by the officers. According to police testimony, the driver and backseat passenger exited the vehicle, but Umpherville remained inside and moved from the passenger seat to the driver’s side. The car was placed in gear and drove forward, colliding with a police vehicle. Officers said he refused to exit the car. Nine officers responded to the scene that night. About five officers at a time were involved in removing, restraining and handcuffing Umpherville and used tasers, batons and pepper spray in the process. Umpherville was physically removed from the car by police. Police said he was initially handcuffed with his arms in front of his body. The handcuffs were then moved to his back. Police said Umpherville had a loaded 9-mm gun and a knife removed from his person during the arrest. Sgt. Ryan Banadyga testified that he heard Umpherville say “I can’t breathe,” when restrained face down on the ground. Banadyga said he looked and saw no one on Umpherville’s neck or back and believed none of the involved officers were affecting Umpherville’s airway. A separate officer testified she struck Umpherville in the back with her knee because she believed he was “trying to get away” from police. She said the officers were cognizant not to restrict Umpherville’s breathing. Parkland Ambulance was called while the arrest was in progress. EMS responders placed Umpherville on a stretcher to transport him to hospital. Two officers entered the ambulance with Umpherville. Police said once in the ambulance, EMS checked and found Umpherville had no pulse. Multiple officers testified that they did not see anyone take Umpherville’s vitals before he was evaluated by EMS. CPR was then administered. An investigation by the provincial Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) concluded Umpherville’s death was the result of cardiac arrest brought on by cocaine and positional asphyxia. The inquest is scheduled to continue Thursday.
