Niagara Falls Police were on routine patrol in the city’s south end around 12:30pm on June 5th when they observed two questionable males walking down the 700 block of Ferry Avenue.
The two males were described as follows: a slim build white male carrying a paper bag with an alcoholic beverage inside and a larger male wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood tied tightly around his face. As officers traveled closer to them, both males looked back several times. While passing them, the larger male put his head down in an attempt to shield his face.
At this point, both officers believed that the larger male was a known offender / warrant suspect and turned the patrol vehicle around. Officers exited the patrol vehicle and questioned the larger male as to his identity – he refused to provide it. The larger male tensed up, actively trying to shield his backpack from officers, and started to pull away.
To identify the male, both officers grabbed the larger male by the arms as he attempted to run away. The officers then tried to escort him towards the patrol vehicle to avoid oncoming traffic, but he tried to flee again. One of the officers grabbed him by the arm and his red drawstring backpack where he felt a long metal object consistent with the same size and consistency of a long-barreled handgun or a sawed-off barred rifle.
An officer tried to bear hug the larger male to gain control and bring him to the ground so he could be detained. However, he pulled away again swinging his arms to flee. He spun his body and threw the officer on top of him to the ground. As the officer hit the ground there was a loud “pop” sound and severe pain in his leg.
Both officers struggled significantly to subdue the male as “he was much larger than both of us,” per the police report.
As the male resisted and failed to comply with verbal commands both officers lost their body cameras and radios while attempting to detain him. The encounter and struggle occurred so quickly that neither officer was able to call for backup or activate body cameras.
By the time officers activated their body cameras, the large male was in handcuffs. Use of force was utilized to subdue him. The red drawstring bag was on the ground and the barrel of a handgun was clearly sticking out of it. Officers opened the remainder of the bag and left everything in place for evidence collection.
The large male was secured in the rear of a patrol vehicle while the crime scene was secured and evidence documented. While documenting the male’s injuries, he made several spontaneous statements such as “I’m really sorry man, I know you got scared dude and I’m sincerely, uh uh I couldn’t obviously tell you why I was running dude.”
The male was transported to police headquarters where he was booked and processed for criminal possession of a weapon 2nd and resisting arrest.
No further information is available on police report involving use of force being utilized to subdue a large male with a gun in Niagara Falls who injures an officer.