VANCOUVER -- The Coquitlam RCMP are looking for witnesses and cell phone video after officers Tasered a man who police say was wielding a hammer.
The incident started when police responded to a report that the driver of a gray Mazda 3 had driven through a yard and hit parked cars. At 12:32 a.m. Wednesday, officers went to the home of the registered owner of the car at Inlet Street and Pipeline Road, near Glen Park.
Police say when they arrived at the home, a 31-year-old Coquitlam man came out of the house “holding blunt objects including a large hammer.” Police say the man charged and police and they used a Taser, “but it was only partially effective.”
According to police, the man then threw the hammer and struck an officer.
Neither the officer or the suspect were seriously hurt, according to Coquitlam RCMP.
Police have spoken to several witnesses, but they’re appealing to two people who were driving by and police believe took a cell phone video.
In a release, media relations officer Cpl. Mike McLaughlin assures readers that “it’s perfectly fine” to take video of arrests, and adds that if you take a video, you still own the (footage) and “you can do what you wish with the copies.”
“But it’s important that we get the original, unaltered video,” writes McLaughlin. “Collecting the best evidence is always our priority, but it’s extra-important right now because police are being questioned more than ever about our use of force.”
Multiple news stories this month have focused on police conduct across Canada, especially when officers are responding to alleged incidents involving Black or Indigenous people or when they are conducting “wellness checks” when someone is having a mental health crisis.
McLaughlin added that police aren’t just looking for information about the events leading up to this arrest, but “any other use-of-force case that you think is important.”
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office is not looking into the July 8 incident, saying the minor injuries the man who was arrested received do not meet the threshold for the IIO’s involvement.
The Coquitlam RCMP can be contacted at 604-945-1550.
