Father speaks out after non-verbal son with autism Tasered, handcuffed by Peel police

When Majd Darwich realized his 19-year-old son Abdullah, who has autism and is non-verbal, had left their Mississauga home wearing only shorts last week, horror set in.

He says he immediately got in his car to go searching, but he only had to drive a few houses away before he came across what he described as a large crime scene.

Police tape surrounded his street in Mississauga, with multiple officers in the vicinity. In the centre of it all was his son; shirtless, handcuffed, his face bloodied.

"I saw his face, it was full of blood, I tried to see what was going on but the officers were saying, 'Don't touch him, stay away from him,'" Darwich recalled.

"I said, 'This is my son, he's autistic, I need to see if he's okay.'"

But he wasn't okay. Peel police officers ended up subduing Abdullah with a Taser, leaving him with physical injuries and psychological impacts that are still weighing on his family.

Peel police say they were responding to a call on Nov. 4 about "a suspicious person in a state of undress, attempting to enter a vehicle and a house," and that they're providing support to the family. But Darwich doesn't believe the situation was handled appropriately, and one expert says the incident shows there's still work to be done to ensure police interactions with vulnerable people don't end in violence.

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Moments before he found his son, Darwich says neighbours had spotted Abdullah near the road sitting in a pile of leaves, playing. He says a neighbour informed him she called police because Abdullah looked young, and was not wearing a shirt in the cold weather. CBC News spoke with multiple neighbours who described a similar scene — a young man playing in the leaves followed by a large and aggressive police response.

Darwich says after the incident, he found six spots on his son that appeared to be injuries from the Taser. He says he also had cuts and bruises throughout his body, including on his face.

Abdullah was later treated at a nearby hospital.

"This was very painful, especially for such a boy like him; he is very sensitive," Darwich said.

Beyond any physical injuries, he says he's seen his son's personality change over the last few days too. He's become afraid of people, and has been spending a lot of time alone in his room, Darwich says.

"We spent the last four years now at school trying to help him advance, and after this happened he became this shocked boy. He's terrified of everything."