WETASKIWIN, Alta. — RCMP used a police vehicle to knock down and arrest an armed man on a highway south of Edmonton.

Mounties were called to Highway 2A Friday morning about 1.5 kilometres south of Wetaskiwin, Alta., after a man was seen walking with a firearm on the side of the road.

RCMP say the 35-year-old man was arrested and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

No police were injured during the arrest.

During the confrontation traffic on the highway was diverted and cars could be seen turning around away from the suspect.

A video of the arrest shows the RCMP cruiser hitting the man from behind once and then again, knocking him down, before Mounties and a police dog disarmed him.

"As the suspect was not following police verbal commands to drop the firearm, for public and police safety, a police vehicle was used to disarm the male," said Chief Superintendent Darcy Fleury, the officer in charge of RCMP's Central Alberta District.

Wetaskiwin RCMP continue to investigate and say the arrest was reported to the Alberta government's director of law enforcement.

The RCMP says the province's police watchdog -- the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team -- will not be investigating the arrest.

(CTV, The Canadian Press)
 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2021

The Canadian Press