Tense video shows Toronto police taking down driver they thought had struck officer

Toronto Police continue their hunt this week for a motorcyclist who struck and seriously injured one of their own while evading arrest on Saturday, despite footage circulating on social media that appears to show them taking down the man in question.

The video, shared by viral local news accounts on Monday, shows multiple officers straining to apprehend a person who looks to match the description of the suspect, most noticeably due to his rather unique motorcycle helmet.

But though posts on X claim the tense 1.5-minute-long clip shows the perpetrator of the crime "getting swarmed and arrested," the force has confirmed to blogTO that the individual who is wanted for failing to remain at the scene of a collision that put an officer in hospital is still at large.

Footage of the man who struck and seriously injured a Toronto police officer getting swarmed and arrested. pic.twitter.com/R7e422RkgX

— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) August 26, 2024

The bystander recording starts with the man already on the ground, his motorcycle askew as two officers try to subdue him. The man eventually gets to his feet, bringing the squabble to a nearby retail window as the cops refuse to let him get away (and he apparently refuses to go down without a fight).

They smashed the man into the window and hold him there until additional officers arrive, s a stunned crowd looking on the entire time.

In the end, it takes five officers to wrangle the protesting suspect to the ground again, the clip ending with a pile-on situation involving seven.

Among the hundreds of responses online, many note that the many was clearly, forcefully resisting arrest, with some even feeling that the officers involved were "being remarkably gentle with him" and "handling him extremely lightly" given the circumstances — both the crime he was thought to have committed, and his combative conduct during the interaction.

Oh, this is the piece of shit who ended up hitting a police officer in in front of Rogers Stadium/sky Dome on Saturday, they were looking for this little asshole. He was all over the news and he’s dumb enough to drive with the exact same outfit. You deserve this buddy.

— THE PODCAST (@THeMyerSHOW) August 26, 2024

But, others wondered if the treatment was too rough, given that there was a chance they had the wrong guy — which, a Toronto Police spokesperson said over email, was unfortunately the case.

"The man arrested in the video is not the suspect wanted in a fail to remain collision investigation at Bremner Blvd. and Rees St.," they said.

"In the video incident, a man was approached by officers for further investigation at Yonge-Dundas Square on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at approximately 11:20 p.m., as he was wearing a similar helmet to the suspect sought in the above incident, where a police officer was struck."

6ixbuzz should be shut down for false claims. And all the people in the comments are sheep. This man who happens to be a friend’s brother was attacked by police for wearing a mass produced helmet. Don’t believe anything you see on this garbage page. https://t.co/JqgnKfJMwY

— a (@asapankxt) August 26, 2024

They added that the arrest incident is now being investigated by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), an overseeing body that gets involved whenever a civilian-police interaction results "in a death or serious injury, or if a firearm was discharged at a person."