Date: Friday November 6, 2020

File: 20-44198

Victoria, BC – Members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT), working with Patrol officers, have now arrested a second man early this afternoon after a second barricade at a suite at a multi-unit temporary housing facility in the 300-block of Gorge Road East.

At 2 a.m. this morning, Patrol officers were called to the 300-block of Gorge Road East for a report that a man had stolen a vehicle. Officers attended and learned that the owner of the vehicle was alerted to the theft, and attempted to stop the vehicle from fleeing the scene. The suspect assaulted the vehicle owner, and while attempting to leave the scene, the suspect collided with a hydro pole, causing significant damage. The vehicle owner suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

This initial suspect then fled into a nearby multi-unit temporary housing facility in the 300-block of Gorge Road East, and barricaded himself within a suite at that location. GVERT was called to the scene, along with crisis negotiators, and they worked for several hours to resolve the incident safely. Shortly after 8 a.m. this morning the initial suspect surrendered himself to officers without incident.

During the barricade, GVERT and Patrol officers learned that a second man was in the suite that the initial suspect from the stolen vehicle call had barricaded himself within. This second man was the subject of conditions of an undertaking not to be at that location. This second suspect barricaded himself in the same suite after the initial suspect surrendered himself to officers. This second suspect’s conditions barring him from that location stem from a serious assault file.

Patrol and GVERT officers, including Crisis Negotiators, continued to work to resolve this second barricade incident safely. As negotiations continued, officers learned that the second suspect was a risk of immediate harm. Officers deployed OC spray into the suite, which caused this second barricaded suspect to exit the suite. He was taken into custody, cleared medically by BC Emergency Health Services paramedics, and transported to cells.

The investigation in this second file also remains ongoing

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