Dramatic arrest caught on video as Edmonton police arrest man trying to steal truck
Dramatic arrest caught on video as Edmonton police arrest man trying to steal truck
Two videos showing incident have been viewed nearly 900,000 times online
By Tanara McLean , CBC News Posted: Jan 31, 2018 2:07 PM MTLast Updated: Jan 31, 2018 2:07 PM
A 19-year-old caught trying to steal a truck was Tasered by Edmonton police in a dramatic arrest captured two Facebook videos.
The man now faces several criminal charges. The videos have been viewed more than 900,000 times since they were posted Monday.
The arrest happened around 4 p.m. Monday in a parking lot outside a Subway restaurant at 172nd Street and Stony Plain Road.
The first video showed a parked Chevrolet Avalanche with five men standing around it, two at the passenger door and three at the driver’s door. One man said the truck belonged to him.
The suspect was inside the truck, trying to start the engine. One onlooker was on the phone with police, giving a description of the suspect.
‘Not a good day for stealing trucks’
One onlooker said: “Howdy, buddy, not a good day for stealing trucks, huh?”
The second video showed the suspect still inside the truck as Edmonton police officers ordered him to get him out. Police eventually broke the driver’s window.
One officer could be heard saying, “Drop the f–king knife!” just before the sound of a stun gun being deployed.
At that point, a man shouted and groaned in pain.
The suspect eventually opened the driver’s door and police took him to the ground. One officer kicked away what appeared to be a knife that had fallen out of the truck.
While all that was going on, a red car pulled up. A woman got out, saying the suspect was her brother. She could be heard saying “Don’t resist,” to the suspect.
The videos were posted by Greg Johnson, who described the scene on his Facebook page.
“Having a bite at Subway and the owner says to me, ‘I can’t believe someone is trying to steal my truck,’ ” Johnson wrote.
“I go outside and sure enough, the doors are being guarded by a co-worker and others. Inside our perp is still frantically trying to hot-wire it.”
Johnson said he provided his video evidence to police, who thanked him for it.
Suspect had three weapons
Edmonton police spokesperson Carolin Maran said when officers responded to the scene, they found a man “armed with multiple edged weapons locked in a vehicle, attempting to steal it.”
Officers tried to talk the suspect out of the truck before they broke the driver’s window, Maran said in an emailed statement. “The male continued to resist arrest and a conducted-energy weapon was used to take him into custody,” she said.
Police think the man was under the influence of drugs. Emergency Medical Services treated him on scene before transporting him to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Maran said.
The man was later released into police custody.
Officers’ actions ‘appropriate’
Police said the man had three edged weapons and firearm ammunition.
Court records show the suspect faces seven charges, including attempted theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, possession of break and enter tools, possession of a controlled substance and obstructing a police officer.
Maran said the Edmonton Police Service thinks the officers’ actions during the arrest were appropriate.
“As the accused was in the possession of edged weapons, resisting arrest, refusing to comply with direction and acting in an erratic and unpredictable manner, there was also an immediate concern for the safety of both the accused and the responding officers.”
from cbc website: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/dramatic-arrest-caught-on-video-as-edmonton-police-arrest-man-trying-to-steal-truck-1.4512380