Transit employees help police subdue man with a knife

Transit employees helped Thunder Bay police arrest a male passenger who was allegedly accosting other passengers for cigarettes and told them he had a knife.

Police in a release issued on Monday said the suspect did not pull out a knife, but passengers and the driver were concerned for their safety.

Police met the bus at the Water Street terminal at about 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, confronted the suspect, who shoved the officer and made an attempt to escape.

A struggle ensued and transit employees helped restrain the man, who was then handcuffed.

The suspect remained belligerent while being placed into a police cruiser, resistant to officer commands.

A search of the man and his property after arriving at the Balmoral police station uncovered a knife in a backpack.

Police say it was evident the man had been consuming alcohol prior to the incident.

Twenty-one-year-old Rex Walter McKay was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

He was remanded to the Thunder Bay District Jail.