A video with thousands of views on Facebook showing some Vancouver Police officers arresting an alleged speeding motorcyclist has sparked a storm of controversy.
The video, posted by Kevin Boisvert, shows the back parking lot of Bayside Performance on Fraser Street in Vancouver. Just before 8 p.m. on Monday, the video shows a motorcyclist pulling up behind the shop with a police cruiser behind him. The motorcyclist gets off his bike and the police immediately take him down.
In the comments on the video, a man named Lucas Moh says:
I’m the guy in the video. I was taking frustrations out on my bike. Not smart. I admitted to police I was speeding. I had no idea I was being followed. Once police came. Tried my best to Co operate.
But Vancouver Police say officers had been observing the man for some time and he had already fled from them.
ABOVE: Security video captures the incident on Monday, May 2.
“Police first observed the motorcycle at 19 Avenue and Fraser Street,” said Cst. Brian Montague, with the Vancouver Police. “Officers thought the behaviour of the operator was strange and watched as he drove through an alley and back out to Fraser before travelling at a high rate of speed southbound weaving through traffic and pedestrians.”
Montague said attempts to stop the driver failed and he fled from a marked police car on 43rd Avenue. He said the driver then continued on “at a high rate of speed” to Prince Edward Street and past MacDonald Park where many people were out and about.
“Officers watched from a distance as the motorcycle continued southbound, blowing through the stop sign at 49th, past another park and through another stop sign at 57 Avenue,” said Montague. “The motorcycle was eventually seen by police turning into the parking lot near Fraser Street and Kent Avenue.”
“The operator of the motorbike had fled from and was evading police. He was not only putting his life, but the life of many others at risk of injury or death by operating a vehicle in that manner which is a criminal offence. The driver was quickly arrested to ensure there was no continued danger to the public. Police don’t have to use force when someone complies with the directions of officers.”
Boisvert said the motorcyclist did come back to the store on Tuesday, asking for a copy of the video and he told him he has obtained a lawyer.
Global News has reached out to the motorcyclist, but has not heard back at this time.
“A person always knows they are dealing with a police officer as they are easily identified by their uniform or their vehicle, but the police often have no idea who the other person is,” said Montague. “Officer safety is of course always a concern when confronted by someone who has not been compliant – of note, a knife was one of the items found upon search after his arrest.”
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