Inquest Begins Into Otto Vass Death

Six years after Otto Vass died in a downtown confrontation with police, an inquest was set to begin into the fatal incident.

The 55-year-old father of five, who suffered from manic depression and schizophrenia, had apparently failed to take his medication when he went to a 7-Eleven near College and Lansdowne on August 9th, 2000.

Police were called after he reportedly got into a fight with three teens at the store, punching one in the face, the criminal trial heard.

When officers arrived on the scene they initially treated Vass as a victim because he had suffered several bruises to his face.

But as the trial heard, that’s when Vass, who had a history of violent behaviour, struck one of the police officers in the face. He and several other officers then tried to arrest Vass, striking him with their batons when he resisted in what is considered standard police practice.

Vass subsequently stopped breathing and died, despite paramedics’ efforts to revive him.
 
In 2003, the four Toronto officers involved were found not guilty of manslaughter in his death.

The inquest will now focus on how such incidents can be prevented.

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