Police in the Greater Toronto Area have released video footage of an officer tackling a motorcyclist who investigators allege fled from police after failing to stop at the scene of a crash. A video shared by York Regional Police (YRP) on social media shows an officer tackling the rider at the intersection of 16 Avenue and Mural Street in Richmond Hill, Ont. According to YRP, on Aug. 9, the biker was involved in a collision and was told to return to the scene of the collision to exchange information. Police claim the rider refused to do so, then left the area despite being told he was under arrest. In the video, the officer can be heard explaining himself to a colleague over the radio. “You made it clear to him? It was obvious that you were trying to pull him over,” the colleague asked over the radio. “Affirmative. I yelled at him to pull over and try to exchange information and then I motioned my finger to him toward the parking lot and then he raised his finger toward me and did the motion of ‘no’ and continued driving eastbound,” the officer said. The video then cuts to the officer arriving at the intersection, where the man on the motorcycle is sitting on his bike, looking over his shoulder. However, the motorcyclist appears to have his back to the police vehicle as the officer slowly drives his cruiser onto the grass and silently exits his vehicle. The officer slowly creeps up to the motorcycle, then tackles the man off of his bike and onto the ground, then arrests him. Later in the video, another officer is seen holding up a licence plate that reads “RUN THIS.” Police say the motorcyclist is now facing charges of failure to stop after an accident, flight from a peace officer, driving with no insurance, failure to disclose insurance particulars and use of an unauthorized plate.
