Man bolts from drive-thru to stop alleged knife threat

SYDNEY — Chris Smith doesn’t want any praise for what he did Wednesday afternoon.

But he says if he saw a similar incident again (allegedly a man wielding a knife in a crowd) — he would respond the same way.

“I’m glad I was there to stop it,” he said. “No need for it to go any farther than it has now.”

Two videos of the incident were posted on Facebook, which took place May 12 while people were lined up at Centre 200 in Sydney, waiting for COVID testing.

One video shows a man walking down the line yelling at people. He appears to throw something at someone and then, when a man with grey hair approaches, the man appears to pull out something.

The person who filmed the video is heard saying, “He’s got a knife” as does another person in the car.

In a second video, Smith is seen going toward the man yelling at him to leave — which he eventually did.

Smith was in the Tim Hortons drive-thru when he saw the incident and reacted quickly.

“I would do it again for anyone if the situation arose again,” he said.

Cape Breton Regional Police confirm they responded to a complaint at 4 p.m. Wednesday about a man “causing a disturbance” at

Centre 200.

“It was reported that a man was yelling and throwing things at people standing in the lineup and that he pulled a knife out when someone tried to approach him, before running away on George Street. No one was injured,” said a police spokesperson.

Police found the man quickly on Prince Street. A witness identified him and police seized a pocket-style knife.

The man was in breach of a probation order and he was arrested.

Identified in court Thursday as Bryan Joseph Bonar, 31, of no fixed address, police took him to hospital for assessment after his arrest.

Once released, Bonar was charged with assault with a weapon (a knife), causing a disturbance by being intoxicated and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose along with two counts of breaching court orders.

He appeared in provincial court briefly Thursday and is scheduled to have a bail hearing today.