A man accused of smashing his vehicle into a police cruiser before barricading himself in a stranger’s trailer for hours has been taken into custody.

An emergency response team was deployed to the small town Vancouver Island town of Coombs, near Parksville, after reports the man had sealed himself inside a unit.

The incident began at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday when Oceanside RCMP tried to stop a reported suspicious vehicle.

The driver rammed the cop car but became stuck in the process. He then fled on foot, according to police.

A police dog unit tracked the suspect to a trailer park in Coombs, about 10 kilometres west of Parksville, an hour after the incident began.

Neighbour Shannon Knox said he spoke with the suspect just moments before RCMP arrived on scene.

“He was gone. I mean, I didn’t see him after that, and the next thing you know there’s cop cars showing up asking ‘Hey, have you seen a guy bleeding from the face?’” he said. “It’s literally been chaos all day.”

The suspect barricaded himself inside a trailer that isn’t his, according to the owner.

“He came into the back bush here and is now held up in my trailer and he’s claiming he has a hostage in there,” said Corinna Pitney.

“He’s barricaded everything off and he’s been in there since ten o’clock this morning.”

She told CTV News she was grateful she wasn’t home at the time he broke in.

An ERT assumed command of the scene for the next several hours.

CTV’s Jessica Lepp reported hearing two bangs moments before the man was seen being led away in handcuffs.

It’s unclear whether the suspect was armed or if he did indeed have a hostage.