Suspect in officer stabbing abducted citizen at gunpoint in Toronto and fled in stolen U-Haul: police

The driver of a stolen U-Haul truck has been arrested after allegedly kidnapping another individual at gunpoint and then leading police on a pursuit through the streets of Toronto.

Police say that officers were in the area of Danforth and Warden avenues at around 11:30 a.m. as part of an investigation into the Dec. 6 stabbing off an off-duty officer outside a Scarborough Best Buy.

Insp. Maher Abdel-Malik says that while in the area police located the suspect in the stabbing in a stolen U-Haul and attempted to stop the vehicle.

Police, however, say that the suspect refused to stop and got into some sort of “altercation” with responding officers.

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Several officers sustained minor injuries as a result, Abdel-Malik said.

“At that time we also learned that the individual had in fact abducted a citizen at gunpoint. That citizen was brought to safety and the suspect took off in the U-Haul,” Abdel-Malik said. “At that point the officers did not engage with the male and followed at a safe distance while we requested the help of York Regional Police and they provided their helicopter.”

Abdel-Malik said that police tracked the U-Haul as its made its way downtown and eventually decided to box it in along Carlton Street near Church Street with help from members of the Emergency Task Force.

Images from the scene show the U-Haul in the middle of the roadway. Several ETF vehicles are visible as well as a tow truck that appears to have crashed into the side of the U-Haul.

A 49-year-old man was taken into custody at the scene.

Police say that they believe that individual is responsible for the Dec. 6 stabbing that left an off-duty cop with serious injuries after he intervened in a theft attempt.

So far police have not provided any further details about the abduction, including when and where it occurred. 

“We are very fortunate with how this incident ended,” Abdel-Malik said. “There were no members of the public that were injured, there were some minor injuries to some officers but overall it was a good conclusion to this event.”

A panel truck involved in a pursuit that ended in downtown Toronto on Wednesday afternoon is shown.

U-HAUL INVOLVED IN SEVERAL COLLISIONS

Abdel-Malik said that there were multiple reports of the U-Haul being involved in collisions as it fled the scene.

He said that the pursuit went on for “quite a while” and a decision was ultimately made to terminate the pursuit along Carlton Street after the vehicle sustained some damage.

“This was the safest moment in time to take the vehicle out,” he said. “The result could have been catastrophic, especially with a suspect who was believed to be armed with a firearm, and it turned out to work out just great.”

Police are asking anyone who might have been involved in a collision with the U-Haul as it made its way downtown to contact investigators.

So far police have not said what charges the suspect will face.

A suspect is shown being taken into custody following a police takedown downtown.