A disturbing video has been posted on YouTube, showing a vicious assault of a York Region police officer last Friday in the empty Hillcrest Mall parking lot in Richmond Hill.

Const. Andrew Varao has skull fractures from repeated blows with a baton by the accused and from his head hitting the pavement, a source told YorkRegion.com.

The two-minute video shows a man walking up to the police car and punching the officer inside. After the officer gets out of his cruiser, the attacker steps toward him and attacks him again.

As the officer backpedals, the attacker punches him and knocks him to the ground. While the officer is down, the man kicks him, jumps on him and punches him repeatedly. The attacker also takes numerous vicious swings at the officer with a baton.

Warning: Graphic content in video below

Lou Malbeuf, a former York Region police inspector and tactical unit officer, praised Varao, who did not pull out his service firearm.

“The officer is compromising his own safety because he’s afraid to use his gun,” he said. “He’s got a split second to make a decision and he’s afraid because if this was not caught on video, the headlines would say ‘copper shoots unarmed man.’

“People would judge the circumstances without the facts. They would say he’s a hotshot, that he didn’t need to use that sort of force, but the reality is, the officer would have been justified to use lethal force in this case.”

Malbeuf, who spent 34 years on the force and has been involved in several high-risk calls in the past, said he was disturbed by the video.

“What good is a gun when police are afraid to use them?,” Malbeuf said.

The incident occurred soon after the assailant was released on bail following allegations of assault in another matter.

The man was given bail at the police station in an audio bail hearing in Richmond Hill earlier that day by a justice of the peace, despite officers opposing his release to the community, according to Sgt. Andy Pattenden.

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The hearing, which would usually take place in court, took this form in light of emergency measures taken because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Pattenden said.

Rob O’Quinn from the York Regional Police Association said he did not want to speak to respect the privacy of the officer.

Chidubem Anthony Okeke, 22, of no fixed address, is charged with attempted murder and fail to comply with recognizance.

JG Jeremy Grimaldi is a crime and justice reporter for YorkRegion.com and its sister papers. Reach him via email: jgrimaldi@yrmg.com

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