‘Based on the video, I’d be very concerned’: Police experts weigh in after Toronto officer runs over knife-wielding man in cruiser

Police officers chase a knife-wielding man running down Bathurst Street, before a cruiser following behind catches up to the fleeing man. What happens next, according to Facebook video capturing a police-involved incident Sunday night, has prompted outrage online.

Shot from an apartment above the King Street West and Bathurst Street intersection, the video shows the car striking a man, momentarily carrying him on the hood of the vehicle before the man falls to the ground and is run over by the car. The cruiser then pulls off to the side as nearby police officers rush to the man.

Whether the officers' actions were justifiable is now under review by the Special Investigations Unit, the civilian watchdog that investigates serious injuries involving police.

According to the SIU, the incident began with a knifepoint robbery in the area just after 6 p.m. on April 14. Police then located the a 28-year-old suspect, who was still holding the knife, chased him southbound on Bathurst, before multiple officers attempted to stop the man by deploying their Tasers, to no avail.

When the man continued to flee, he was struck by the cruiser and sustained serious injuries. According to a statement from Toronto police late Sunday, an injured officer was also taken to hospital.

In a life-or-death situation, an officer can justify using their vehicle as a weapon. But two police use-of-force experts consulted by the Star disagreed on whether Sunday's incident met the high threshold to decide whether running the man over was justifiable.

"Based on the video, I'd be very concerned about what the police officer did - very," said Terry Coleman, a retired Moose Jaw police chief who is now a public safety and policing consultant.

Coleman stressed that video may not include all relevant information, and more context is needed to fully understand the decision-making. But his analysis of the video is that the officer driving the vehicle was going too fast from the outset, if the intention had been to try to knock the man down.

"Once he'd vanished out of sight - once he was down, the officer should have just plain stopped, but it looks like they just kept going," Coleman said.

"Under the circumstances, I think it was excessive," Coleman said.

Steve Summerville, a former Toronto police officer and use-of-force instructor, disagreed, saying the force was reasonable considering the level of threat the man posed. The situation could have been far worse - lethal force did not have to be used, Summerville said.

Summerville said officers first tried other ways to diffuse the situation, including their Tasers. When that didn't work, they still had a duty to contain the threat and protect other members of the public who could become involved in the highly dangerous situation - "they can't walk away," he said.

The vehicle was a "weapon of opportunity" that worked, Summerville said.

"Police did their job, they resolved it, and hopefully this person will receive the care and the treatment that they deserve," he said. "Everybody went home, and there are no funerals."

Updated information about the man's injuries was not immediately available. A Toronto police spokesperson declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis