Foot Chase the Sequel

Posted by: Blue

Today we responded to a Domestic where the complainant's ex-boyfriend was running away with their shared child.

We were close by and volunteered, pre-empting off of our held call.  We spotted the suspect almost right away, running across the street carrying a small, scared-looking 3 year old boy.

We shouted at him to put the child down, which he did, but then he took off running right away again.  The mother swooped in and grabbed her child.

It was like a circus watching us chase the guy in circles around the block.

We lost sight of him after one corner.  A passer-by shouted "Pine tree! Pine tree!"

A single pine was in a lawn about a quarter of the way up the block.  I passed by once but didn't see anything.  I doubled back and then I spotted him; peering out from beneath the lowest boughs.

"Police! Stop! Show me your hands! If you run again I'm going to Taser you!"

He jumped up to run.  I hit him with a textbook spread of the probes in the centre of his lower back, dropping him in his tracks.  I didn't give him the full 5 second ride.  He was locked-up and shouting "OK! OK! OK!".  I switched it off after 2 or 3 seconds and he was ready to comply.

I found out later that it was the third time he had been Tasered.  He had only been out of jail for a couple of weeks and was on two Probation Orders for separate Assaults on the same woman.

I scraped up my right knee bailing on a corner with loose gravel again and ripped my pants.  The Sergeant granted me a no-charge slip.