Man posts ‘horrifying’ takedown to YouTube
STREET ARREST: Victim has mental issues, police say
Donovan Mahoney has posted 11 seconds to YouTube about an arrest by police in Vancouver that he calls “horrifying.”
The video shows a man being thrown to the ground by one officer and then being restrained with the aid of two other officers.
Mahoney, 39, was locking up his bike at Main and Broadway on Sunday at around 3:30 p.m. when he saw a man struck by one vehicle and then hit by another car before he was jumped by police.
“He (the officer) picked the man up and assaulted him,” said Mahoney of the manner in which the officer pushed the victim to the ground. “He (the officer) needs to be reprimanded.
“The guy is not doing anything,” complained Mahoney. “He’s limp.”
The video ends when one of the officers punches Mahoney’s phone out of his hands.
The YouTube video was forwarded to the Vancouver Police Department and Const. Brian Montague, a spokesman for the department, had a different take on what occurred.
Montague said police were called to the scene around Main, Broadway and Kingsway because a man had jumped on the roof of a vehicle and broken a windshield while running through traffic.
The video shows what occurred just after the man had run into one vehicle and fallen down and then did the same to another vehicle, said Montague.
“Once it’s all over, he actually stated to our officers that he is fully intent on killing himself and that’s why he’s running in traffic,” said Montague, who didn’t apologize for the way in which the man was restrained.
“It’s extremely awkward, not an easy thing to do and there’s force involved,” he said. “Force doesn’t look pretty.”
While police were originally intending to charge the man with mischief, he was instead apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital. Montague said he has had “multiple contacts” with police for mental-health issues.
For his part, Mahoney said he was initially threatened with a jaywalking ticket, but was instead given a ticket for failure to use the sidewalk.
Montague said there won’t be any further investigation of the incident because there hasn’t been a complaint.