Man threatening customers with knife at Hamilton business was ‘hate motivated assault’: police

Hamilton police say a man threatened customers of a lower city business with a knife, in an incident police describe as a hate-motivated assault."

A 24-year-old Hamilton man was arrested following the Saturday morning incident at a business near Main and Wentworth streets.

Police were called to the business at about 8 a.m. for reports of a male armed with a knife and threatening a customer," according to a Saturday evening media release.

No one was injured in the incident, said acting Staff Sgt. Marco D'Arcangelo.

When officers arrived, the suspect fled on foot. Officers chased the man and captured him after a short pursuit.

Police charged the suspect with assault with a weapon and opposed his release.

There may be more witnesses of the assault and some of them may have recorded it. Police are encouraging anyone with video of the incident to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Hamilton Police's central division Staff Sgt. at 905 546-4725.

Any hate crime in the city is unacceptable, police say, and anyone who witnesses a hate motivated incident can report it online at hamiltonpolice.on.ca, in person at a police station, on the phone at 905-546-4925, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com