It’s been more than six months since Nathaniel Schofield, 36, died after going into medical distress while in custody at the Rockwood OPP station.
In that time, Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said she hasn’t heard a word from the OPP or the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) about the investigation into his death, which has led to her filing a complaint against the OPP with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA).
LECA is an independent civilian agency handling public complaints about police conduct in Ontario.
“I’m just trying to seek some justice,” she said by phone.
According to the SIU, Schofield died on July 10 after he was arrested the night before in Arthur and eventually held at the Rockwood station. He was observed in “medical distress” in his holding cell, given first aid treatment and taken to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 11:20 a.m.
Meanwhile, Dzikewich was in a Guelph courtroom waiting for her son’s bail hearing as hours passed by, she told GuelphToday shortly after her son’s death in a previous interview.
A phone call from the Rockwood OPP station played over a courtroom speaker, which let Dzikewich know Schofield had been taken to the hospital.
Later she learned he had died hours before.
“I was lied to by the OPP from the beginning starting in the court room, in front of the whole court room over the air right to a justice saying that he was just rushed to hospital at four in the afternoon in medical distress,” she said. “He was already dead for hours. I called Rockwood OPP that day while I was waiting for him in court.”
Any wrongdoing in this case has not been proven and the SIU investigation is still ongoing. Few details have been released by the SIU, but a spokesperson said in a past email the case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
“Everything now is just speculation … I have a pretty good idea that he was neglected, but I don’t know what happened, I wish I knew,” she said.
She said she filed this complaint because she believes officers should have consequences for misconduct or killing someone and should be held to a higher standard because they enforce the law.
“They don’t get consequences like a civilian,” she said. “When a civilian breaks the law, I wouldn’t be sitting here six months later waiting on an investigation, I’m sure I’d be held in jail.”
Dzikewich said she’s felt a lot of support from the community and has learned a lot from other families and people who have been through something similar.
Multiple rallies and vigils have been held in Rockwood and Guelph calling for answers and justice over Schofield’s death.
