A 17-year-old has been charged with cocaine possession, residents are crying “disrespect,” and a privately funded basketball court looks like a bowl of Shreddies after a cruiser hopped the curb and drove into David Crombie Park during a police chase Tuesday night.

It was around 11 p.m. when officers approached a young man on foot downtown.

When the youth took off on his bike, police followed in a cruiser. Eventually, the chase led to David Crombie Park, near Front and Sherbourne Sts.

Police say that’s when the suspect ran onto the park’s basketball court. The cruiser followed.

The trouble is, the court’s unconventional plastic tiles gave little traction to the cruiser’s tires. A YouTube video taken at the time shows the police car spinning its wheels and sliding around awkwardly, like a deer on skates.

“It was never meant for a car,” said police spokesperson Victor Kwong.

Police arrested a suspect, now charged with cocaine possession. But about one-third of the court is in tatters.

The court was built in the fall of 2010 with a $22,000 gift from Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. It is made of interlocking, grated plastic tiles that look like the sides of a milk crate.

A company called Flex Court produces the surface, intended to “prevent against sports injuries,” according to the company website.

But the material has received mixed reviews from residents, according to the city.

“It’s a love-hate thing,” said Mari Caravaggio, of the parks division. “Some people really love the tiles, they like the grip, and that it’s reduced noise for the neighbourhood.”

Other players complain that the surface scrapes the skin more when they fall, she said.

Some residents were frustrated with police for tearing up the heavily used court. Driving on it showed “disrespect,” said a local who gave his name only as Daniel.

His friend Marcus said kids play on the court “a lot, every day. Kids would be playing there right now.”

Asked if police chases were common in his neighbourhood, Marcus responded: “Not like that.”

The area isn’t unfamiliar with crime, though. Police spokesperson Wendy Drummond said there was an attempted murder about half a dozen blocks away the night before the police chase.

Still, police are trying to make amends: Officers from 51 Division, along with volunteers from MLSE and city parks staff, will be on-site tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. to tear up the tiles and return the court to a usable blacktop surface.

When it is resurfaced, the Flex Court tiles may not be replaced, Caravaggio said.

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“It probably will be better than what it was before,” she said.

The cruiser’s unexpected spin, she added, may have been “a blessing in disguise.”

Neither police nor city parks employees could say who would foot the bill for the court’s cleaning and repair.

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