TORONTO — New video footage has been released showing the violent assault one TTC rider experienced at the hands of Toronto Police in December of 2019.
Chase Richards was riding the bus in Scarborough when he was accused of not paying his fare. He was asked to leave the vehicle and when he refused, Toronto Police were called.
The video shows a longtime member of Toronto Police, Detective Christopher Hutchings holding Richards by the throat for over a minute after violently shoving him into a seat. Later in the clip Hutchings forces Richards to the ground and restrains him with his knee on Richards’ back for another 60 seconds or more.
Brandon sat down with Chase to get his side of the story.
Richards said that morning was just like any other. He hopped on the bus, tapping his presto card before he took his seat. That’s when another passenger got up and went to speak to the driver, before approaching Richards and telling him that the driver wanted to speak with him.
“He said that I should have entered at the front, but I explained that there was a machine at the back too and I tapped my card again so he realised I wasn’t cheating or anything,” Richards explained, adding the bus driver still was not satisfied.
“He was then critiquing that I smelled like cigarettes and he didn’t want to ride with me, so I returned and I said ‘what does me smelling like cigarettes have to do with you doing your job?,” he told Brandon.
“Two gentlemen then came up and asked me what the problem was, and if I didnt have enough money. So I took out my card again and tapped it again to prove that wasn’t the issue,” Richard said.
Richards said the driver then told everyone riding the bus that it was going out of service. Despite that, Richards remained inside the vehicle, assuming that TTC officials were going to call police.
“I didn’t want the driver to tell the police any lies about what happened,” Richards said.
But when he told the police that he had indeed paid his fare, that’s when he said all hell broke loose.
“He decided to use his training and basically just tried to hurt me physically,” Chase told Brandon.
Once the police had wrestled Richards to the ground, the video shows one of the officers took a seat on the bus and placed his foot on Chase’s back while having a conversation with another man who has his foot on Richard’s lower back.
“It didnt make sense for me to fight the police, my mom always instilled in me that no matter what the police are always right,” Richards told Brandon, saying that was playing through his mind while he was restrained, face down on the bus floor.
Richards says that he’s grateful that he did not fight against the police.
“There are cameras on the bus’, they know that. But even if they have it on camera, they (the police) know they are going to win,” Richards said.
Despite this, he says cameras, like the CCTV on the bus, are saving Black people from brutality.
“If it werent for people taking pictures and stuff this all would’ve gone down the drain. I’ve been beat up by the police before. My 13-year-old daughter has had the bus drivers call the police on her,” Richards told Brandon.
The two officers involved were charged with assault. Richards said he hopes they are reviewed and no longer allowed to work as police officers.
“Imagine all the people who didn’t have video to show the light, imagine how many things they have gotten away with. How many innocent people they have tortured and hurt,” Richards said.
“Even when you’re right your wrong,” Richards said.
He told Brandon that he was arrested and thrown in jail, and had to agree to conditions before he was released. Richards was no longer allowed on TTC vehicles or property, leaving him without a way to get back to his home in Brampton.
That has since changed, and Richards said he now takes the bus again. But the inncident has left him emotionally scarred.
Officers Christopher Hutchings and Jason Tanouye have both been charged with assault and attempting to abstruct justice. This chase is still before the courts.
