One man is dead and an investigation is underway following a confrontation in a Yale Road restaurant that turned tragic Wednesday morning.
Chilliwack RCMP were called to the Uptown Grill at around 7:20 a.m. following reports of an angry and agitated male causing a disturbance. While en route RCMP asked for paramedics to be sent as a precaution, RCMP said in a release.
Two RCMP officers arrived at the restaurant and located the man outside on the roadway where he was subsequently arrested. During the arrest the man went into medical distress, and officers began CPR. Paramedics attended and transported him to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
The man has been identified as 45-year-old Lindsey Gauthier, a well-known local realtor who had been struggling with addiction.
Late Wednesday, Angie Gauthier, Lindsey’s wife, posted a note thanking the community for its support.
“His addiction was the saddest thing we as a family had experienced, knowing how intelligent and kind he was, this was not how he wanted to be,” she said.
And while she wants people to remember his “loving heart and generous soul,” she also wants people to know the impact addiction can have on a family.
“It is a real disease that many families deal with and it did not exclude us,” Angie said.
The Independent Investigations Office of BC has been called in to investigate what is considered an “in-custody death” because of the interaction with police.
IIOBC investigators were at the scene throughout Wednesday, conducting standard tasks including obtaining physical evidence from the scene, interviewing any civilian witnesses and designating and interviewing officers.
Yale Road was closed for several hours.
By Thursday the road and the restaurant had reopened.
Any potential witnesses are asked to call the IIO Toll-free Witness Line at 1-855-446-8477.
