IIU investigating restaurant owner’s death in police custody

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This article was published 08/11/2021 (1745 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s police watchdog is investigating the death of a man last week who was in police custody after acting aggressively and erratically in traffic near the legislature.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba confirmed Monday it was made aware of the death Thursday night.

The IIU did not name the man, but sources have told the Free Press it was George Simeonidis Jr., owner of the Santa Lucia Pizza restaurant on Corydon Avenue.

He was handcuffed when he collapsed at about 7:15 p.m. on Osborne Street, according to information from police, the IIU reported. The man was rushed to St. Boniface Hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Simeonidis is married and has a 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. He is part of a well-known Manitoba family of restaurateurs who own several pizza restaurants, a business that began in Thompson in 1971.

Winnipeg police said Monday that emergency services personnel initially responded to the 100 block of Osborne Street North on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. after multiple callers phoned in reports of a man acting aggressively and erratically in the street.

A Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service safety supervisor, who was driving past, stopped to make sure the man was OK, according to police.

Police officers and other responders followed. Paramedics immediately provided emergency medical care when the man collapsed, Winnipeg police said in a press release.

A family source told the Free Press that as of Monday afternoon Simeonidis’s family hadn’t been provided more details about the incident.

The IIU is asking witnesses or anyone with information about the case, or relevant video, to call the IIU toll-free at 1-844-667-6060.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca