Firearm tossed in the river during arrest in Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent police cruiser in Chatham, Ont., on Thursday, June 16, 2022. (Submitted to CTV News Windsor)

A Chatham-Kent man has been charged after reports of a man walking on King Street west with what appeared to be a “rifle-style firearm.”

According to police, officers found the man on the Fifth Street Bridge and arrested him without incident.

Just before the arrest, police say the firearm was thrown in the river by the suspect and while transporting the man to police headquarters, the man allegedly uttered comments to cause harm to the officer.

Through investigation, police learned the man was bound by conditions of a release order and several prohibition orders not to possess any weapons, including imitation firearms.

The 28-year-old was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, pointing a firearm, uttering threats, failing to comply with a release order and four counts of possessing a weapon contrary to a prohibition order.