York Region Transit has reassigned a special constable to administrative duties after a video surfaced showing the constable detaining a customer by pinning her to the ground as she cries out.

YRT spokesman Patrick Casey said the special constable hasn’t been suspended, but will continue doing administrative duties until the investigation is finished.

The video, recorded on Friday by a passenger at a VIVA bus station near Hwy. 7 and Yonge St., shows the constable straddling the customer and then using his legs to pin her on the ground. She is squirming and screaming.

“I’m sorry,” she says as he pulls her arms back to handcuff her.

While handcuffing her, a second constable arrives and picks the woman’s bag up off the ground, setting it down on a nearby bench.

Once she’s in handcuffs, the first constable lifts her up on to the bench and she appears to willingly sit down.

“I’ve never seen them tackle and hold anyone down like that,” said 27-year-old Angela Fava of Richmond Hill, a regular YRT commuter who used her cellphone to record the video.

“I wouldn’t want to see an animal treated like that.”

York Region Transit commissioner Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas said the agency reported the incident to police and has provided officers with YRT’s surveillance footage.

Thomas told the Star that she had seen the footage, but declined to comment on what she saw because it’s under investigation.

If someone doesn’t pay their fare, Thomas said transit officials can issue a ticket.

“The only time a fare violation would escalate is if a customer fails to lawfully comply. But it wouldn’t normally (escalate).”

YRT and GO Trains are patrolled by special constables with peace officer powers, meaning they can enforce the Criminal Code and arrest someone on reasonable suspicion.

The have more power than transit enforcement officers patrolling the TTC, even though the TTC has more riders. Their officers must personally see a violation to make an arrest.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Transit board chair Karen Stintz and other councillors have argued that the TTC needs to add more teeth to its enforcement.