Crossing guard roughed up by off-duty cop still waiting for answers
Posted October 16, 2018 5:31 pm.
Last Updated October 16, 2018 7:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A week after a Markham crossing guard was roughed up by an off-duty Toronto police officer, several questions remain unanswered.
Witnesses allege that the off-duty officer got out of a private car and used excessive force to arrest 70-year-old Mohamed Hameed, after the crossing guard tried to stop the car from rolling through a crosswalk.
As the incident occurred in Markham, York Regional Police is investigating. CityNews reached out to York police about whether the guard, driver and officer involved have been interviewed. They responded with no answers, saying an investigation is ongoing
Hameed’s daughter Safra Najeemudeen tells CityNews that no one from the police has reached out to them nor spoken to her father. She adds that the family got tired of waiting to be contacted and went to the police station themselves so that her father could give them a statement.
Najeemudeen says her father was helping children cross the street near Mount Joy Public School, close to Bur Oak Avenue and Markham Road, around 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 10 when a driver failed to stop and proceeded through the intersection. Hameed reportedly tapped the car with his stop sign as it passed him.
Witnesses say the off-duty Toronto police officer got out of the passenger side of the car, flashed his badge, grabbed Hameed by his reflective vest, and pushed him against the car. The officer reportedly told Hameed he was arresting him for mischief.
The officer then allegedly held Hameed against the car, which the officer’s son had been driving, until York Regional Police officers arrived around 8:30 a.m.
When York officers attended, they proceeded to arrest and handcuff Hameed. Shortly thereafter they removed the handcuffs before putting Hameed in the back of a cruiser, who then passed out.
Officers took him to a local hospital and then released him from custody without charges.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told CityNews the officer involved is still on duty while York Regional Police conducts its investigation.
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