VICTORIA -- Two roommates in Victoria were awakened in the middle of the night Monday to discover a convicted sex offender armed with a club on their living room couch.
The incident happened just before 1:30 a.m., when police were called to an apartment in the 300-block of Cook Street.
“I heard the front door open and I wasn’t concerned,” one of the roommates told CTV News on Wednesday. “I kind of figured my roommate had gone out or something.”
The Cook Street resident, whom CTV News has agreed not to name, decided to get up anyway and look around the house.
“My house was dead silent but I heard a draft coming in the front door,” he said. “I was startled but I just closed the door and locked it.”
On his way back to bed, he saw something even more startling — “a man just fully passed out on the chair in a starfish position in our living room,” he said.
The resident quietly woke up his roommate and the two of them went to check on the intruder again. The sleeping man was clutching a makeshift club, similar to a shovel handle, the resident said.
“As soon as we saw the club, we thought this isn’t good,” he said.
Retreating to a locked room, the residents called police, who arrived on scene in less than 10 minutes, according to the resident.
“When I heard him being arrested… he was unpleasant,” the resident told CTV News. “I knew the way he responded he wasn’t a good person.”
Victoria police confirmed they arrested a man armed with a makeshift club at the scene.
“Can't imagine how terrifying this would be for anyone,” Victoria police Chief Del Manak tweeted in response to the incident. “The roommates did the right thing, retreated, made themselves safe, called 911. Best news, no one was hurt.”
Officers say the man was already facing charges of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose stemming from a December incident in which he allegedly threatened two strangers with a knife.
Police say the man has previous convictions for serious crimes, including sexual offences and assault.
The suspect is being held in police custody pending a court appearance.
“I’m thankful that it ended the way it did, but it’s a real wakeup call to people in Victoria about what’s happening in our neighbourhoods,” the Cook Street resident said. “This weekend it really became real, very quickly.”
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Victoria police at 250-995-7654 or Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.