Hamilton man tasered by police after reported seizure

A caution, the details of this story are disturbing.

What started out as a reported seizure, ended with several Hamilton police pinning a man down on the pavement, leaving him with multiple injuries. This happened just outside Hamilton’s downtown core and a camera was recording at the time.

Charles says he was at work at the Canadian Tire at Main Street and Victoria Avenue when he had a medical episode. “I have epilepsy. They got discharged to my work for a seizure call because I have epilepsy,” Charles said.

The footage shown in the video attached shows 27-year-old Marcus Charles on the ground after getting tasered by two Hamilton police officers. Soon after, Charles says several officers were on top of him, it was a moment he tells CHCH News this moment still haunts him.

Hamilton police tell CHCH News that they were called by paramedics because Charles was becoming combative. Police add that they tried to de-escalate the situation, but Charles’s demeanor changed and that one officer was assaulted and another had their head slammed into an ambulance. No officers were injured.

Charles feels like he was the victim in this situation, “they thought it was funny. They thought it was hysterical and it wasn’t, it wasn’t funny at all. It was scary.”

The father of three says when he has an epileptic seizure he often wakes up and is disoriented and just needs a breath, goes for a walk and gets a drink. He adds that he could be aggressive, but because he’s frantic after a seizure.

This time, Charles says, he wasn’t only frantic post-seizure, but fearful for his life. “I couldn’t breathe and I honestly, I, I truly, honestly thought I was going to die in that moment.”

Police say they couldn’t confirm any charges however Charles tells us that he is facing assault charges.

CHCH News spoke with a witness who was there at the time and says Charles never swung at any officers and that Charles was walking away from authorities when they tased him.