Police in Waterloo, Ont., say they’ve charged a man after he drew a hatchet while fighting with officers during his arrest.
The incident happened in Kitchener, Ont., on Feb. 5, around 5:20 p.m., according to police, while an officer was on patrol around Strasburg Road and Block Line Road.
Waterloo Regional police said an officer was alerted to a disqualified driver in the area through automated licence plate recognition technology. A disqualified driver refers to an individual operating a vehicle while there is a court order prohibiting them from doing so.
The driver attempted to get away from the officer, running a red light. While fleeing, his vehicle was hit by another car and he was not able to get away due to damage to his vehicle.
The truck’s driver then got out and “attempted to fight the officer,” which resulted in the officer deploying his taser, police said. The taser failed to subdue the man, and he went to his vehicle to retrieve a hatchet. He was subsequently tasered again and arrested.
Police say the 27-year-old Kitchener man has been charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assaulting police, resisting arrest, assaulting police officer with a weapon, disarming a police officer, and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
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Police said that three people in the vehicle that hit the suspect’s truck were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Video of Arrest
A video of the incident was posted on social media. In the first few seconds of the video, the man is on the ground being tasered by a police officer, who moves to stand over him.
The police officer then gets on top of the man to hold him down. In the video, the man can be seen trying to push the officer away. The officer punches him, and pins the man’s arms to the ground.
The suspect continues to resist arrest, while the officer is able to briefly keep the man pinned down. The man then rolls over to his side in attempt to get away.
The police officer gets off the man at this point and the suspect gets up and walks over to his vehicle, a red truck. He then pulls out a hatchet from inside the truck. The officer pulls out his gun, points it at the man, and backs away.
The suspect walks toward the police officer, who continues to back away, but keeps his gun pointed at the man.
The suspect stops advancing, runs back towards his truck, picks up a jacket from the ground and puts it on while another officer approaches with a taser pointing at him.
The second officer shoots the man with the taser. The suspect falls backwards, hitting the ground, and drops his weapon.
The first officer approaches the man again, with a gun drawn. A third police officer approaches and puts his knee on the man’s back. Two more officers approach, holding the man down. Another two more officers join to hold the man down during his arrest.
