Standing on the road below his third-floor apartment, a resident on Seaton Street in downtown Toronto says he’s lived here for 10 years and has never seen anything like the police take-down he saw on Monday.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, shared dramatic video with Global News that shows a confrontation between a Toronto police officer and a suspect wanted for stealing packages off someone’s porch.
“The police are constantly criticized for the things they do and you know what, no one is perfect and sure there’s going to be a cop or two out there that doesn’t do something the correct way,” the man said.
The three-minute video begins by showing a female officer, who has since been identified to Global News as Const. Jade McMurray, trying to protect herself from a man throwing a large rock at her Toronto police SUV — all while she tried to apprehend him.
McMurray, a community response officer with five years on the job who normally patrols the neighbourhoods around Sherbourne Street and Dundas Street East on her bike, runs around the vehicle as the suspect repeatedly smashes its front and side windows.
McMurray, who can be seen calling for back-up on her police radio, deployed her taser twice at the suspect, who is wearing a thick coat.
Appearing unharmed, he continued hurling the rock and at one point barely missed the officer. McMurray can be heard telling the suspect to get down.
A minute into the video, back-up arrives and an officer identified to Global News as Const. Andrew Corkill jumped out of his police SUV and tackled the suspect.
At this point, McMurray also approached and helped arrest the suspect along with a third officer who jumps out of the second SUV.
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Supt. Peter Moreira, the officer in charge of 51 Division, said he’s proud of the officers who responded to the call.
He said the taser was ineffective but other officers were able to arrive on scene, take the suspect down, and bring him into custody without any injuries.
Moreira said Corkill is one of the more experienced officers in the division and was training a new officer, who was just six hours into his first shift, at the time of the takedown.
Police said 43-year-old Kola Alex Ogunkoya remains in custody. He was charged with assaulting a police officer with a weapon, theft from mail, and uttering threats.
Moreira said it’s likely the crown will be asking for a mental health assessment.
The Seaton Street resident who witnessed the take-down said he’s still shocked by what he saw and impressed by McMurray and Corkill.
“She had it completely under control,” he said.
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