TTC, police investigating violent incident aboard streetcar involving transit officers

The TTC says it has initiated a third party investigation into a violent incident involving two of its special constables and a passenger aboard one of its streetcars Friday morning.

Twitter user @CascadingDesign posted video of the incident which occurred on the 501 streetcar on Queen Street near River Street just before 8 a.m.

 

In the post, the user says transit officers approached the passenger and asked him for proof of payment, which he allegedly declined to provide. When the passenger attempted to flee, the incident escalated into “mutual shoving and then punches.”

“Everything escalated in less than a second,” the user said in their post. “Some sort of pepper spray foam was used, the man was subdued and then handcuffed. Nobody else was injured or involved as far as I can tell.

In a statement to CityNews, the TTC confirmed the incident occurred during a routine fare inspection.

“The altercation involving two TTC Special Constables took place after they were approached by several customers on board the vehicle who had concerns,” read the brief statement.

TTC CEO Rick Leary also issued a brief statement Friday evening, saying he is taking the issue “very seriously” and has initiated an investigation by an external party.

The TTC says Toronto police are also investigating the incident.

Toronto Police tell 680 NEWS no charges have been laid at this time against the alleged fare evader.

The Twitter user who posted the video said before the transit officers boarded the streetcar, the passenger was randomly yelling at people.

“The man getting hit by the fare inspectors was type of guy everyone has seen on the TTC before – maybe intoxicated on *something*, possibly just belligerent or not in a great state of mind.”

The poster concludes by saying this type of thing will keep on happening as we get more fare inspectors interacting with people who are confrontational.

“I don’t think it’s going to have much of an effect on stopping fare evasion, just more violence.”

Toronto councillor Kristyn-Wong Tam is calling for a full investigation into the incident.

“This is not how the TTC should be treating riders,” she tweeted. “There needs to be a full investigation into this use of force, which is never acceptable.”