Police use Taser on man who claimed he left
bomb at hotel
By Ian Elliot
Local News - Tuesday, December 28, 2004 @ 07:00
A man with a history of mental illness led Kingston Police around the city last
night before he was taken down and arrested outside police headquarters three
hours after he first alarmed authorities with a call saying he was armed and
suicidal.
The drama started when a 34-year-old man called police on his cellphone and
claimed he was armed with a handgun and intended to kill himself and anyone who
tried to stop him around 5:30 p.m.
He hinted he was at an address on Kingscourt Avenue. Uniformed units and the
force’s emergency response unit surrounded a residence there.
After cordoning off the area, they found the man wasn’t there.
Calls continued throughout the evening and the man made various claims that
he possessed explosives and had left bombs at various locations.
Staff-Sgt. Mike Attwood, who said he has had extensive dealings with the man
over the years, convinced him to come downtown where police quickly staked out
an area around police headquarters and were ready to arrest him.
“He agreed to come down to the police station and see me and we’d have a
coffee and talk,” said Attwood.
“In his last phone call, he claimed to be at the Holiday Inn and so we had
officers all around the area.”
The officers saw a man matching the suspect’s description enter the Tim
Hortons on Ontario Street and walk out with a coffee.
Instead of going to police headquarters, he started to walk back in the
direction of the hotel and police moved in, subduing him with a Taser.
He was carrying a white plastic bag containing an extra pair of boots but
possessed no explosives or other weapons.
After he was arrested, the man claimed that he had left a bomb in the pool area
of the Holiday Inn. That area was cleared while uniformed officers swept the
area and cut open a locker but no explosives were found.
The individual was questioned by police but was intoxicated and difficult to
make sense of.
“He was very intoxicated and we’ve dealt with him before,” Attwood said of
the man.
“He’s mentally unstable with violent tendencies. Our dealings with him have
been fairly consistent over the years.”
No one was hurt during the arrest. He was not charged last night, but was taken
to hospital for a psychiatric assessment after being taken into custody.