B.C. police watchdog called to investigate a death in custody on Vancouver Island

RCMP say British Columbia's police watchdog has been notified after two incidents involving officers on Vancouver Island, including the death of a man in custody.

The Mounties say officers from the Comox Valley detachment responded to a call about a stranger on a property around 4:30 a.m. Saturday and arrested a man whom they believed was intoxicated.

A statement released by Sgt. Chris Manseau says officers brought the man to RCMP cells without incident, but during the course of regular wellness checks, a guard noticed the man was unresponsive.

The statement says officers provided first aid until emergency health personnel arrived to take him to hospital, where he later died.

The Independent Investigations Office has been notified to determine whether police actions played a role in the man's death.

In an arrest in Nanaimo on Friday, police say officers were called to a complaint of an intoxicated man who was being verbally aggressive to a fellow tenant and he was hurt in an altercation with an officer at the jail.

Police say paramedics later took the man to hospital for injuries to his leg and arm.