TORONTO -- This blue hornet got stung.
A Toronto Parking Enforcement officer was punched in the head Sunday
afternoon after ticketing a gold-coloured car on Danforth Ave.
“Around 4:15 p.m., he was walking across the street at Carlaw Ave. when a
gentleman associated with the vehicle he tagged just blindsided him and
dropped him right to the ground with a punch,” said Staff-Sgt. Robert
Skinner, of the Toronto Police.
“He then stood over top of him and a bunch of citizens jumped in and pulled
this guy off. I’ve heard he was yelling things.”
The suspect then took off in his car, but not before witnesses were able to
identify his licence plate and give a description to the cops.
The parking enforcement officer — a man in his late 20s — was taken to
Toronto East General Hospital with minor injuries.
“He’s very groggy,” Skinner said Sunday evening. “He’s very dazed and is
waiting to be treated. When you think of the classic expression ‘had their
bell rung’ ... he truly has no idea what happened to him.”
Parking enforcement officers receive some self-defense training, but not as much as police officers.
While Skinner couldn’t list any number for the amount of assaults parking enforcement officers deal with, he said they’re fairly common.
“I’ve been the staff sergeant in parking enforcement east for a year now and I’m totally
shocked by the situations people put themselves in once they get parking
tickets,” he added. “It’s either verbal confrontations or physical assaults over a tag —
honestly, I don’t get it.”
jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca
