Mon, August 23, 2004
DON'T MESS with the chief and his friends! Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino was pressed into action while walking around the Canadian National Exhibition, assisting in the arrest of a man yesterday afternoon.
Fantino was touring the Ex grounds when a number of people complained to the chief and Sgt. Bob Guglick, who is stationed at the police CNE substation, about a man taking pictures of small kids.
At 3:45 p.m., Fantino and Guglick tried to apprehend the heavy man in sweat pants. The man tried to take off.
During the struggle the man knocked Guglick to the ground, injuring the officer's elbow.
Both Fantino and Guglick got their uniforms dirty tussling with the man on the pavement in the Games Alley at the Ex, trying to capture him.
"He was a very strong man," said Fantino, who suffered a few minor scrapes.
The chief credited four citizens who swooped in to help contain the battling man.
"We needed their help," Fantino said.
The chief said people reporting the man's action, then jumping in to help with the arrest showed what great people live in Toronto. "It just reinforces my faith in humanity."
Fantino didn't have his gun or defender baton to help subdue the man. "We had to rely on stealth," the chief joked.
The man has been charged with mischief and assaulting police.