WARNING: The video below contains graphic content and language that may be offensive to some.
A 27-year-old Kitchener man is facing several charges after he resisted arrest during an intense takedown by Waterloo regional police yesterday, all of which was captured on a video that has gone viral on social media.
The video, which was initially uploaded to Reddit before being shared widely on Facebook and other sites, shows the man resisting arrest following a collision at the intersection of Strasburg and Block Line roads.
Police said an officer was on active patrol around 5:20 p.m. Wednesday when he was alerted by his cruiser's automated licence plate recognition (ALPR) technology of a disqualified driver.
Police said the driver immediately attempted to evade police and proceeded through the intersection on a red light where the red pickup truck was struck by another vehicle.
The male driver exited his vehicle and attempted to fight the officer, which resulted in the officer deploying a conducted energy weapon (CEW).
The CEW was ineffective, and the male returned to his vehicle, getting a hatchet and approached the officer in a threatening manner.
The officer can be seen in the video drawing his weapon and urging the man to stand down. As the man returns back to his vehicle, the officer deploys his CEW again, this time bringing the man down where he is then surrounded by other police officers and subdued.
The three occupants of the vehicle that were struck in the intersection were transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
As a result of the investigation, the man has been charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assaulting police, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer with a weapon, disarming a police officer and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
The man was held for a bail hearing.
