By Staff

BURLINGTON, ON September 29, 2011  A couple of Halton Regional Police plainclothes officers drove over to Hamilton to locate a suspect they wanted to put handcuffs on.  The suspect had some outstanding arrest warrants in both Halton Region and Hamilton. Investigation led to a residential address on Victoria Avenue. The police were permitted access to the house by the home owner for the purpose of arresting the suspect.

Two officers went downstairs identifying themselves verbally as police and located the suspect hiding in a crawl space. The suspect sprayed the officers with bear spray, forcing them to retreat from the enclosed area.

Two other officers, stationed outside the house, noticed the suspect emerging from a trap door underneath the front porch. The suspect immediately sprayed those officers and fled.

 Despite the effects of the spray and hampered vision, officers continued to pursue the suspect, while he continually sprayed them. The suspect was eventually apprehended.

You can imagine how ticked those police officers were. One of the officers sustained a serious knee injury when he ran into a fire hydrant while chasing the suspect who was spraying bear repellent at anyone who came near him.  It must have looked like a scene out of wild west movie.

The suspect was identified as David Thomas of no fixed address.  He was charged with Assault Police (three counts); Breach of Probation (two counts); Fail to Comply with Recognizance (two counts) and possession of a Controlled Substance.  Did you know that bear spray was a controlled substance.  Hamilton police assisted in the arrest.  And Mr. Thomas now has a fixed address.