The BC Coroners Service has scheduled an inquest for the 2015 death of a Smithers man in police custody.
Officials say 53-year-old Jacobus Jonker died a week after his Valentine’s Day arrest by Smithers RCMP.
According to a report by the B.C. Prosecution Service, the rugby coach was pepper sprayed by officers attempting to take him into custody after a 9-1-1 call by his family.
The document says Jonker was uncooperative while at the Smithers RCMP cell block and there was an altercation with officers and a jail guard.
Jonker became unconscious and stopped breathing after he was held around the neck and head.
He never regained consciousness and died a week later in a Victoria hospital.
The inquest is scheduled to start September 9, 2019 at the Smithers Courthouse.
