Vancouver police say a man who was seen in a viral video on social media being arrested in front of his young child was resisting arrest for the ongoing criminal harassment of a former intimate partner.
A local man shared a video on Twitter Tuesday (Oct. 11) afternoon showing three police officers arresting a man in his vehicle near Trout Lake Community Centre. The man being arrested can be heard yelling: "I have my son in the car" and "help."
As police bring the man to the ground he claims that he was "doing nothing" and the person filming the video says "oh my god" and adds: "look what you're doing to the kid." The child cries as the man continues to protest the arrest.
The footage sparked a heated debate on social media, with many locals questioning the use of force while others said the man shouldn't have resisted arrest. It has been viewed over 100,000 times.
Earlier this week, the VPD was told by the victim that the man had breached his bail conditions, as well as a protection order in place for the safety of his former partner and that she was afraid, explained Sgt. Steve Addison during a media briefing Wednesday morning.
Police believed the man's behaviour was escalating and he may have tried to flee with the child.
"When we last arrested him in May, he barricaded himself for several hours inside a house. At that time, members of our Emergency Response Team and Crisis Negotiation Team had to be deployed, and a warrant had to be obtained before our officers could enter the house to arrest him," said Addison.
VPD responds to criticisms over Trout Lake Vancouver incident
When they located his vehicle near Trout Lake, the officers weren't aware that there was a child in the back seat. He initially got out of the car but tried to get back inside after he was informed he was under arrest.
"Had he complied with the reasonable direction from police as they were executing their lawful duties this would not have happened," Addison underscored, noting that the video shows police giving the man multiple verbal commands. The man did not sustain injuries from the rest.
"We don't ever want to have a situation where we're having to arrest a parent in front of a child. It's heartbreaking to see that child getting out of a car, crying, and upset," Addison noted.
Police comforted the boy following the arrest and he is now with his mother.
VPD just beat a man infront of his child at trout lake community centre, which is holding advance voting today pic.twitter.com/z13WEVc7VZ
— sean (@socialistsean) October 11, 2022
