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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Salt Lake City Police Department has released its findings, along with bodycam footage from the officers involved, 911 calls, and the identity of the man who died during an officer involved critical incident (OICI).
The man who died was identified as John Gianini, 50, and police said his cause of death is still under investigation at this time. SLCPD has said that this is the fourth OICI that occurred this year. The reason this has been classified as an OICI is because Gianini died in the care of Salt Lake City Police.
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“This Protocol shall be invoked for all in-custody deaths and those incidents where the person in custody is transported to the hospital and the hospital staff states the person is in critical condition,” the OICI protocol for Salt Lake County states.
“This is a very tragic case,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown said. “Based on my review of the body-worn camera footage and the information we have received, it appears Mr. Gianini was already in the stages of critical medical decline by the time our officers arrived on scene. Our officers acted quickly, providing Mr. Gianini with clothing and blankets to cover him to offer warmth, immediate aid, and comfort.”
Police said that they found Gianini “naked, conscious, breathing, but not alert.” Officers found the 50-year-old in “cold, winter-like temperatures” and he was “thin, weak, and malnourished.” They noted that the temperature according to the National Weather Service was 46 degrees when the incident occurred.
Social workers were also dispatched with police due to the information given by community members while police were heading to the scene. SLCPD noted that they decided to “pink sheet” Gianini.
The pink sheet “allows law enforcement to transport an individual for purposes of receiving further evaluation if they are deemed to pose an imminent danger to themselves or others,” police noted they were also conducting a criminal investigation into lewdness on the 50-year-old.
Police requested the assistance of Salt Lake City Fire Department and Gold Cross ambulance to get Gianini a psychological evaluation and medical treatment.
SLCPD says the only “law enforcement action taken by SLCPD officers was the handcuffing” of Gianini.
Around 5:30 p.m. the Gold Cross Ambulance on-scene reported to SLCFD that Gianini had an “altered mental status, low blood pressure, was hypothermic and they could not get vitals.”
Gold Cross ambulance loaded the man up and took him to the nearest hospital. While in transport, Gianini’s condition worsened and he later died at the hospital.
Police said Gianini’s last known address was the homeless resource center in South Salt Lake. The two officers who interacted with Gianini are still on paid administrative leave as the investigation is still going on.