Peel police say they “regret” the distress caused to a teen boy who was mistakenly arrested
for a suspect in a high-profile kidnapping case.
Police say they received information about the location of Kwami Garwood last week.
Garwood is wanted for allegedly kidnapping a 23-year-old woman last week in Brampton.
He is also wanted by Toronto Police for a homicide in July 2020.
Peel police say they believed he was in a vehicle in Toronto and asked Toronto Police to help make a “high-risk arrest.”
“Our job is to keep the community safe. Operating on the belief the individual in the car was the suspect Mr. Garwood, we had a duty to act,” said a statement from police.
Police say the 17-year-old boy wasn’t injured in the arrest, but was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
They say officers had acted in good faith on what it calls credible information and contacted the boy’s family the day of the incident.
An internal review is underway.