Police in Toronto are facing questions for intense takedown efforts to stop a cyclist who allegedly blew through a stop sign on the city’s waterfront.
A video posted to social media appears to show a cyclist near Bathurst Street and Queens Quay, near Little Norway Park, being tackled to the ground by multiple police officers who were stopping and ticketing people failing to obey a stop sign.
In the video, the cyclist appears to complain he’s in pain as more officers rush over to restrain him.
Lawyer Dave Shellnutt, who runs a firm specializing in defending cyclists, said the police response was disproportionate to the situation.
“This is a Highway Traffic (Act) matter, you are not supposed to use force in this situation,” he told Global News. “It was really scary to see multiple officers lay upon a fellow cyclist.”
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The video garnered more than 170,000 views on social media by midday Tuesday and appears to have been recorded by another cyclist who also rode past police.
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The camera pans to the side to show a bicycle on the grass verge and two Toronto police officers crouching beside it. A third runs over to join as they appear to restrain a male figure.
“I’m hurting, I’m hurting,” the cyclist appears to shout as the officers crouch over him.
Police said the incident happened on Sunday evening, when they tried to stop the cyclist, but claimed he sped past them, allegedly shouting at them.
“Officers directed the cyclist to stop,” police wrote on social media.
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“The cyclist proceeded through the intersection at a high rate of speed and shouted a profanity at officers as he passed. A second officer again directed the cyclist to stop; however, the cyclist refused and attempted to flee from police.”
Shellnutt said the approach was excessive.
“If there’s a car that’s speeding and trying to get away from police, they are not supposed to engage in a pursuit,” he said. “They have other means to track this person; let them go. Alert the officers up the road.”
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Toronto police said they’d set up to catch cyclists failing to stop at the sign after complaints flooded in.
“The Division had numerous community complaints regarding cyclists failing to obey the posted stop sign at the intersection,” they wrote.
Investigators said the cyclist in the video was arrested and faces three provincial offence charges.
— with files from Global News’ Victoria Femia
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