Victoria, BC – Officers from the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) and our Community Services Division took a man, wanted on a warrant for his arrest, into custody this morning after he barricaded himself inside a residence.
The man was arrested at a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 300-block of Burnside Road just after 9:30 this morning. The man is barred from residing at the property by court-ordered conditions stemming from an assault conviction. Patrol officers originally contacted him earlier this week when he breached his court-ordered conditions. Patrol officers negotiated with the man to give himself up peaceably over the last several days, speaking with him on multiple occasions. When the man ultimately refused, Community Services Division officers took on the file and continued to work to arrest him on his warrant for violating his court-ordered conditions.
The man continued to refuse to give himself up and barricaded himself in the suite. Crisis negotiators and additional members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team were called in to assist and worked for a number of hours to take the man into custody. When the man again refused, officers warned him that CS gas would be used to extract him from the suite. The man continued to refuse to surrender himself. GVERT officers then deployed CS gas, which prompted the man to give himself up to police officers. He was taken into custody without further incident and transported back to cells in the GVERT Rescue Vehicle for decontamination.
The man is being held for court for four offences relating to multiple breaches of court-ordered conditions. Community Services Division officers are also working to ensure that the man is connected to supportive resources.
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