Police defend arrest of man in front of his toddler in viral Vancouver video
CTV
Vancouver police are adamant officers did “nothing wrong” during the arrest of a man in a vehicle with his toddler inside, as bystanders yelled at officers and filmed the encounter.
Vancouver police are adamant officers did “nothing wrong” during the arrest of a man in a vehicle with his toddler inside, as bystanders yelled at officers and filmed the encounter.
Two video clips were posted to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon shortly after the incident in East Vancouver. In them a man can be seen screaming that his son is in the car and asking what VPD officers are arresting him.
As officer pull him out of a vehicle in the Trout Lake parking lot, the man struggles with police. Onlookers can be heard gasping.
“What are you doing to him, buddy?” one asks, as a rear door opens and a small child is seen and heard sobbing.
Wednesday morning Vancouver police told reporters that the man in the video “is someone we've dealt with a number of times, someone who's been the subject of a number of court orders and previous police investigations.” A spokesperson also said the man was being arrested for breaching court orders to stay away from a former partner.
“Initially they did not realize there was a child present,” said Sgt. Steve Addison. “We don’t ever want to have a situation where we're having to arrest a parent in front of their child. It's heartbreaking to see that child getting out of the car, crying and upset. Our officers did their best to resolve the situation quickly.”
As recently as May, Addison said officers had dealt with the man in a satiation where “he barricaded himself in a house for an extended period of time that required emergency response team, police negotiators, and a warrant issued by a judge to go in and make the arrest.” He also said that there were other issues that led police to be concerned the man may barricade himself in the vehicle with a child.
