Vancouver police say they arrested a suspect accused of robbing a man of his e-bike at knife-point in broad daylight earlier this month.
The incident was captured on camera on June 11 on a busy stretch of Cambie Street, just blocks from Vancouver police headquarters.
In the video, the suspect can be seen brandishing a pair of pliers as bystanders and the e-bike’s owner try to pull the bicycle away from him.
The suspect takes a swing at one of the bystanders with the pliers before the person shooting the video darts forward and pulls the tool from his hands.
Shortly afterward the bystanders can be seen to withdraw quickly from the suspect before he gets on the bike and rides away.
Ash Beytoei, who shot the video, said people backed off because the suspect had drawn a switchblade.
Beytoei told Global News he was coming out of the Canadian Tire when he saw the man cut the e-bike’s lock in front of its owner, who was on the phone frantically trying to call police.
He felt like he had to step in when he saw the suspect use the pliers as a weapon.
“That’s when I knew he’s going to be using these pliers. It clicked to him he could start swinging this thing,” he said, adding he didn’t think about his own safety as he plucked the tool away.
“In my mind I wanted to do more at that time, I still thought I could, but then I have all these other thoughts coming in at the same time, my girlfriend is also there, I know she’ll be mad if I attempt anything.”
Beytoei said he stayed on scene for more than 10 minutes, but never saw police arrive.
In an email, Vancouver police also alleged the suspect had drawn a knife.
“After the suspect was successful in cutting the lock, several passersby confronted with (the) suspect who allegedly started to threaten people with pliers,” Const. Tania Visintin said.
“The pliers were grabbed by someone, and then the suspect allegedly pulled out a knife and swung it at one of the witnesses.”
Visintin said the suspect was gone by the time police arrived, but was located and arrested the following day. The bike, however, was not recovered.
Visintin said the file remains active and police anticipate recommending charges.
Beytoei said he still doesn’t understand how it took police so long to respond, given their headquarters was just a stone’s throw away.
“Kind of unbelievable if you ask me,” he said.
“You can’t believe you’d be next to a police station and somebody can’t just step outside.”