Witnesses recount arrest of suspect shot by Brantford Police

The province’s Special Investigations Unit continues to look into an incident after a 27-year-old suspect fled in vehicle after being shot by Brantford Police on Monday afternoon.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the SIU said preliminary information suggests that Brantford Police went to make an arrest on Scenic Ridge Gate — near Rest Acres and Powerline Roads in Paris — shortly after 4 pm Monday.

“There was an interaction, and one officer discharged his firearm at a man who was in a vehicle,” according to the SIU. “The man fled in the vehicle.”

A short time later the man, who was driving a white Tesla, was located in the area of ​​St. George St. and Belaire Road.

He was taken to hospital for treatment of an injury resulting from being shot by the officer.

Czarina Murray was driving westbound on Tollgate Road towards her home on Monday afternoon after having coffee with her father in Hamilton.

“Out of nowhere – the fastest I’ve seen – that guy’s white Tesla comes speeding right to the back of my car,” said the 21-year-old Brantford woman, explaining that she was stopped at the all-way stop at Tollgate and St. George Street. “Right at the last second, he swerved out of the way and drove to the other side of the road. If my car had been one inch behind, he would have smoked me.

“Since he was going so fast, he crashed into the Road Closed sign (on St. George St.)”

Murray said she saw the suspect get out of the car carrying a white plastic bag.

“His arm was covered in blood too.”

She said he kicked off his sandals and started to run down St. George St.

“Nine cop cars came, and all these people on the street – and the construction guys – started chasing him as well,” Murray observed.

She described the suspect as a tanned Caucasian with a close-cropped haircut and facial stubble, wearing red shorts and a white shirt.

Three bullet holes could be seen in the driver’s side window of the Tesla.

Vicki Bochsler was standing in the backyard of her home in the area of ​​St. George St. and Belaire Road when she saw the suspect come out from the back yard of a Belaire Road home across the street.

“He had bare feet and started running down here and the next thing you know all the cops are converging here,” she shared. “They caught him in the front yard there (across the street).”

Bochsler said police held him on the ground until an ambulance arrived. The suspect was transported to hospital for treatment.

Police then told neighbors to go inside their homes because a search was being conducted with the canine unit, she said.

“I guess (the white plastic bag) is what they were looking for because he didn’t have it when I saw him run down here,” Bochsler recalled “He had nothing in his hands.”

She said one of the construction workers told her the suspect had been shot.

A foreman for Navacon Construction said Tuesday morning that his workers had been instructed by the company not to speak with media.

Four SIU investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case. The SIU said at this time, one subject official and seven witness officials have been designated.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that nay have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

“It was quite a day for this little neighborhood,” Bochsler said. “It’s usually very peaceful.”

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