No charges against police after man suffered frostbite during chase
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Manitoba’s police watchdog has recommended no charges be laid against an officer after a less-lethal gun was used on a man who suffered severe frostbite during a chase last year.
RCMP were sent to Ebb and Flow First Nation on Feb. 13, 2025 at about 11:15 a.m. after a report of an impaired driver in a stolen pickup truck, it was previously reported.
Officers found the truck and the driver fled on foot into the bush. With the help of a drone and borrowed snowmobile, Mounties found the man in the forest and attempted to arrest him.
With the temperature between -23 to -28 C with the windchill, officers were concerned for the man’s well-being, a report from the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba released Thursday stated.
The man was uncooperative and tried to flee from officers when a Mountie fired a less-lethal weapon at him from a distance. The bean bag bullet had no effect and the man stole the snowmobile and fled, stranding officers, the report said.
Mounties borrowed another snowmobile and caught up with the man after he had run out of gas and was again hiding in the bush. He was placed under arrest and taken to hospital with severe frostbite.
The man ended up leaving hospital after a few hours. Days later, a doctor informed RCMP the man had checked himself into Portage la Prairie Hospital and was being treated for frostbite. He was arrested there and taken into custody.
In a statement to the IIU, Blake Beaulieu, who was 33 at the time, said he was high on meth during the incident. He said while crouching in the woods, he froze in that position and suffered severe frostbite to his feet.
Beaulieu suffered a bruise to his forearm as a result of the bean bag bullet.
Court records show Beaulieu pleaded guilty to several charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, flight from police and weapon offences and was sentenced last month to time served plus an additional 43 days.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca