Toronto Police Taser knife-wielding man

Dino DeFrancesco took his family to the St. Clair Ave. W. area to show them where he grew up.

What they came across, however, was an interaction between a man wielding a knife and police officers who were trying to get him to drop the weapon.

DeFrancesco, 52, said he, his wife and daughter arrived at St. Clair and Lansdowne Aves. around 3 p.m. Sunday and saw the confrontation.

“I saw a cop with his gun drawn and I took a few seconds and saw the guy with the knife and it was on,” he said. “That’s why I shot the video.”

The 3 1/2-minute video, which Defrancesco shared on his Facebook page, shows a man carrying a coloured kitchen knife while two officers — one with a gun and the other with a Taser — are joined by another officer as they attempt to de-escalate the situation.

A fourth officer also arrives on scene.

The man moves onto the streetcar tracks and in front of a police cruiser.

“Go down, man,” someone is heard shouting.

DeFrancesco said he witnessed officers using pepper spray on the man before deploying a Taser.

“As I heard (police say), ‘Put it down! Put it down!’ I thought that this probably won’t end well,” he recalled. “He looked like he was homeless. He did seem like he had mental (health) issues.”

Four officers then cuffed the man and put him in the police car.

“I think they did a great job,” said DeFrancesco. “I was reading the comments (on my Facebook post) and there are a few comments that ask ‘Why do you need four cops on top of this guy?’ He’s lucky to be alive.

“Within 30 seconds, they’re bringing the guy up and into the car he goes,” added DeFrancesco. “If it was in the States, he would have been dead.”

Toronto Police said they received a call for a person with a knife at 3:08 p.m. Sunday in that area.

“Police arrived on scene moments later. The man was arrested and charged him accordingly,” said Const. Caroline de Kloet.

There were no reported injuries.

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