York police arrest 1, seeking 2nd suspect after cop hit by car

York police have charged one man and are looking for another, after an officer was hit by a driver during an auto-theft investigation.

Around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, officers found two allegedly stolen vehicles near Overlea Boulevard and Thorncliffe Park Drive in Toronto, according to a news release issued by York Regional Police Friday.

Along with the force's canine unit, the officers tried to arrest the suspects, catching one after a short foot chase, police said. Another suspect got into a vehicle and drove at an officer, who was hit and thrown into the air by the car, which was captured in a video shared by police Friday.

WATCH | The following video contains footage that may be disturbing to some viewers: 

Const. James Dickson told CBC Toronto the officer had nowhere to go as the car headed straight for him.

"Anytime we see any one member of our team or friends being injured, it's absolutely scary," he said. "Particularly knowing that this could have ended so much worse than it did."

The officer who got hit was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The driver then crashed the car into a building, got out and ran away, police said. Police are still looking for that suspect and are asking anyone with information to contact investigators.

The 18-year-old Toronto man police were able to arrest at the scene has been charged with two counts of motor vehicle theft, among other crimes, according to police.

Dickson said police shared the video to demonstrate how violent alleged car thieves can be.

"The last thing we want is for any member of the public who's having their vehicle stolen, particularly now that we're seeing more and more carjackings, to end up getting hurt as well," he said.

Car thefts have been on the rise for years in Ontario. In 2023, 12,000 cars were stolen in Toronto — a 24.4 per cent increase from the previous year. That jump followed a 45 per cent jump in 2022 from 2021, according to Toronto police's major crimes indicator dashboard.

In January, police forces in Ontario received $121 million from Ottawa, in hopes of targeting the rise of stolen vehicles and carjackings in the GTA.