A teen who pulled a knife on a Surrey Mountie was tasered Thursday night.

The 15-year-old Surrey resident is now in jail after being examined by paramedics and staff at a local hospital.

Around 9 p.m. there were reports of a very drunk young male threatening people with a knife in the area of Kwantlen Park near 104 Avenue and Old Yale Road.

One Mountie spotted the teen arguing with a group of young men in their teens and twenties on a basketball court.

The discussion was becoming heated and seemed to be escalating.

When the lone man walked away into the woods, the officer followed.

The suspect produced a six-inch folding knife and brandished it at the officer who happened to be carrying a Taser.

The officer used the electric stun gun on the teenager to force him to drop the weapon.

The teen remained conscious, but after he vomited in the back of a police cruiser, he was given oxygen at a nearby fire hall and paramedics were called.

The teen was examined by the ambulance crew, then taken to Surrey Memorial Hospital for further tests before he was returned to police custody and locked up in the Surrey detachment cells.

Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt Roger Morrow said the teen was fortunate the officer happened to be carrying a taser.

If the Mountie only had his handgun, the suspect could have been shot under police rules of engagement in cases of potential threat to life and limb, Morrow said.

Police are recommending charges of uttering threats of death or grievous bodily harm, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon.

Morrow said there are indications that the individual was involved in an earlier incident where a knife was brandished and death threats were uttered following a theft.

dferguson@surreyleader.com