Trail RCMP say a 39-year-old city man who was accused of breaking into locked offices at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital and impersonating a doctor has died after being electrocuted.
RCMP say it happened Wednesday morning in the 500 block of Bay Avenue. Police learned that just before 6 a.m. the man climbed onto the roof of a building and then tried to climb down using a power pole.
He made contact with live wires attached to the pole and was likely killed on contact before falling from the pole to the ground.
The incident has been turned over the BC Coroners Service.
Police confirm he was the same man accused of going on a spree at the hospital last week and breaking into offices and other secure locations.
When staff members confronted him, he told them he was a doctor at the hospital. When they didn’t believe him, he barricaded himself inside an office until officer arrived.
Police say they got there to find the man still wearing hospital-issue scrubs, coat, and hat. They say he was arrested without incident, but tried twice to escape while being escorted to a police car.
Two USB thumb drives were found on him during a search, which police believe were taken from the hospital.
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich says they think the man was looking for drugs or prescription pads, but drugs are strictly controlled in the hospital.
He says the man didn’t fool anyone: “He didn’t blend in well, plus he caused a significant amount of damage.”
Wicentowich says at one point the man went to the fifth floor, broke a window, and climbed down to the third floor to access some offices.
The incident happened last Thursday evening.
The man was released on several conditions and was expected to face several charges including identify fraud.
His name hasn’t been released.
