An altercation between Abbotsford police and a man was captured on video after he allegedly had a weapon and was showing aggression to people in the area.
Officers responded to the 30000 block of Liberator Avenue near the Tradex building and Abbotsford airport on Nov. 1 and found a male matching the suspect's description.
Const. Art Stele says the man was known to police, had active warrants and was in possession of a knife.
"A prolonged verbal back and forth between members and the suspect initiated where members engaged in ongoing verbal de-escalation tactics to have the male submit to police commands,” Stele told Glacier Media via email.
Himmat Singh Jattana was nearby when the incident unfolded and captured the arrest on video. In the video, police can be seen walking toward a man saying, "Get on the ground now."
"The suspect continually refused to comply with commands and demonstrated an increase in aggression to members and the public in the immediate area, which was not captured on this video,” says Stele.
The man allegedly began walking away from police and towards the Tradex building, “which posed a heightened risk” to people.
Glacier Media asked if police were trained on the use of force in the video, including elbow blows, and were told that the members were fully aware of the man being armed with a knife and capable of causing “grievous bodily harm and/or death.”
Stele explains this is why members had less lethal tools available, which they are trained to use.
"Members approached the male in the efforts to get the suspect in wrist-restraints, which would mitigate any further threat to the public and members. Upon this, the male began physically resisting, kicking, and subsequently punching the arresting member,” said Stele.
The video shows a physical altercation and police getting the man to the ground.
Stele says the suspect still refused to comply and had his hands tucked under him where officers knew a weapon was reported to have been located.
"As this posed a heightened risk to the members and the public's safety, the member deployed physical techniques that AbbyPD members are continually trained on intended to impede the suspects behaviour and threat,” added the constable.
The man was arrested and no additional charges are being recommended at this time.
A woman who works at a store inside Abbotsford International Airport first noticed the man walking back and forth inside the airport.
“When I saw him in the airport, I got a weird feeling,” says Jessica Samms. "I didn’t have a good feeling about the guy from the first moment I saw him."
She watched the entire incident and commends police officers for how they handled the situation.
While she was outside the airport on break, she watched police trying to arrest the man but he was resisting.
“He had his hands in his pockets and then he turned around and it looked like he was taking something out of his pocket,” says Samms. "I had ran back inside the doors and continued to watch as they shot him three times [with a bean bag gun], which also didn’t phase him.”
To her surprise, the man returned to the airport again the next day.
“I was confused because I, 100 per cent, thought he’d be locked up after assaulting a police officer,” says Samms.
