Violent Ont. university arrest on YouTube
'Thousands' of students voice concerns
Last Updated: Thursday, October 15, 2009 | 9:40 PM ET
CBC News
Officials at the University of Western Ontario in London are defending the violent arrest of a student that was captured on video and posted on YouTube.
London police and University of Western Ontario campus officers punch and restrain a student in this image taken from a video posted Wednesday on YouTube. (dreddly/YouTube/Canadian Press) The video, shot on Wednesday at the university's social sciences building, shows what appears to be five campus and police officers surrounding the man and pinning him to the ground.
The officers knee and punch the student several times before they are able to restrain him.
They appear to be trying to put handcuffs on the man while repeatedly shouting, "Stop resisting!"
Elgin Austen, the head of campus police, told a news conference Thursday that by the time he arrived during the arrest, he didn't see "anything out of order" with the level of force being applied.
"It was being conducted consistent with the Ontario Police College and the training that officers have there."
The student council said it has heard concerns about the incident from "thousands of students," and is working with the university to find out more about what happened.
Austen said people seeing just the video alone "may not understand what the officers were actually doing.
"What the officers were doing was trying to apprehend a strong individual ... and not injure that person and keep other people around safe."
'Disoriented and threatening'
Campus police first knew something was awry at the social sciences building when they received a call at 5 p.m. from a student who reported being followed by a man.
Campus police later received calls that a "disoriented and threatening individual" was trying to enter offices on two different floors in the building, the university said in a statement.
He eventually barricaded himself inside a seventh floor office, said the university.
When two London police officers came to investigate, the man came out of the room and "charged" the officers, the university said.
A third officer arrived and tried to apprehend the man, but he broke free and headed for the main floor. When he got there, a campus officer stopped him as he tried to flee. More London police officers arrived, and they managed to tackle him to the ground.
After the man was apprehended, he was sent to hospital and released into police custody at 3 a.m. on Thursday.
London native Irnes Zeljkovic, 22, has been charged with mischief under $5,000, assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and escaping lawful custody.
The fourth-year social sciences student is described as being about 6 feet and 2 inches tall and weighing more than 200 pounds.
With files from The Canadian Press
