A woman armed with knives was tasered and accidentally run over twice by a Toronto police SUV during her arrest on Saturday. The incident occurred in the afternoon near a Tim Hortons drive-thru next to the Jane Park Plaza shopping center in the city’s west end. Police responded to reports of a woman wielding two large knives and damaging vehicles in the area.

According to a statement from the Toronto Police Service, the woman was “actively damaging” vehicles and had slashed the tires of a police cruiser that arrived on the scene. Videos of the event, which have circulated widely on social media, show the woman walking through a busy parking lot as police and civilians navigate around her. In one video, she is seen stabbing the tires of a police vehicle before an officer exits and deploys a taser as she walks away.

After being tasered, the woman dropped the knives and fell to the ground. Officers quickly moved in to subdue her. However, a fourth officer exited his SUV without putting the vehicle in park, causing it to roll forward and strike both the suspect and the officer who had fired the taser. The officers struggled to push the vehicle back as their colleague attempted to free himself.

The officer who had exited the vehicle then returned to the cruiser, but instead of reversing, he accidentally accelerated, running over the woman again. Throughout the ordeal, she can be heard crying out. The police statement clarified, "During this response, the officer’s vehicle inadvertently rolled forward into both the suspect and one of the arresting officers."

As the situation unfolded, the officer who fired the taser managed to get to his knees and called for the vehicle to back up. The driving officer complied, moving the vehicle off the woman. Despite the chaotic scene, paramedics assessed both the woman and the officer for injuries resulting from the vehicle contact. The woman was taken to the hospital for further evaluation, which is standard procedure after a taser deployment.

The Toronto Police Service stated, "We are actively reviewing the circumstances and are grateful there were no serious injuries during this dynamic incident." They also noted that they would not notify the Special Investigations Unit, as the injuries were not severe. The police defined a serious injury as one likely to interfere with a person's health or comfort and not transient or trifling in nature.

In a statement on social media, Brian Callanan, vice president of the Toronto Police Association, expressed gratitude that the officers involved were not seriously injured. He acknowledged awareness of the video and the incident, emphasizing the challenges faced by officers responding to such volatile situations.