Customers at a Tim Hortons in Toronto's east end got more than just sprinkles with their doughnuts on Tuesday when police pepper sprayed a man inside the busy coffee shop.
Investigators said a man under house arrest was reported missing shortly after 8 a.m., police said. It is believed the man ran into the Tim Hortons, in the area of Neilson Road and Ellesmere Road, when he saw the police.
Several witnesses recalled to CTV Toronto how the police chased the man into the coffee shop, demanded he get on the ground and then subdued him with the noxious substance.
"A guy ran in and the cops came screaming in behind him, guns drawn," one man said. "There were cops everywhere."
Another woman said the pepper spray wafted through the coffee shop after the incident, causing customers to cough.
An EMS worker was spotted washing residue off his face shortly after the confrontation.
Police say a man was apprehended under provisions of the Mental Health Act. No criminal charges are expected to be filed in connection with this incident.
With files from CTV Toronto's John Musselman
