Wild video shows armed cops scrambling outside of Toronto's sketchiest condo
People are comparing downtown Toronto to the Grand Theft Auto video game series this morning after a hectic and alarming incident that had police officers storming around a bustling intersection with guns drawn.
Footage of the scene emerged on social media Wednesday evening, showing a white SUV maneuvering around and clipping a cop cruiser blocking the intersection of Lake Shore Blvd. W and York Street, then speeding off as multiple officers pursue it on foot.
Three officers chasing the vehicle at full tilt, weapons in hand, give up and change course after a few moments, running back to the other side of the corner (which is notably strewn with detritus that appear to be from the body of a car or multiple cars).
A second recording then shows a number of cruisers bolting eastward on Lake Shore past York with sirens blaring, a member of the force hopping into one of them before it charges off.
Toronto Police Service tells blogTO that the SUV in the video, which can be seen with some moderate front-end damage, was indeed being chased as part of a robbery investigation on Wednesday afternoon.
"We received a call for a robbery at a jewellery store at 2:57 p.m. in the Yonge Street and Dundas St. E area," Media Relations Officer Victor Kwong confirmed Thursday morning.
"The suspects fled the scene in a vehicle, and police attempted to stop that vehicle. The suspects did not stop, and police started a pursuit."
He added that the hunt was stopped "a short time later" for the safety of other drivers, cyclist and pedestrians, and that there were no injuries.
The fact that the chaos took place outside of the city's famously sketchy ICE Condos is a coincidence, but definitely a detail multiple people are commenting on online as the unbelievable video is widely shared.
