VICTORIA -- A Victoria man was arrested early Monday morning following a lengthy stand-off with VicPD in James Bay, which forced the partial evacuation of an apartment building.
According to VicPD, the incident began at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday night when police were called to an apartment building in the 200-block of Oswego Street for reports of a disturbance.
When officers arrived, residents of the building told police that a man had been causing "a series of disturbances" in the building and that he was currently damaging property on the second floor.
Officers then made their way up to the second floor hallway of the apartment building, where they encountered the man who immediately became aggressive towards them.
Police say a struggle began between the man and the two officers and that one officer suffered non-life threatening injuries in the violent encounter. The man then fled from the two officers into his own suite within the building and barricaded himself inside.
After the assault, the two officers called for back-up and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) was deployed to the building. Meanwhile, residents of the building were evacuated due to the incident.
With the man barricaded inside, police say an hours-long stand-off ensued.
"Throughout the night, crisis negotiators worked to resolve the incident peacefully," said VicPD in a news release Monday.
Approximately six hours into the incident, police say that multiple rounds of negotiations failed to persuade the man to exit the building peacefully. At approximately 4 a.m., GVERT officers entered the man's suite and took him into custody.
The man was then transported to hospital for mental and physical health assessments, where he remains.
Police say that once the man was in custody, residents of the building were allowed to return to their units. The one officer that was initially assaulted by the man was treated for his non-life threatening injuries and was able to complete their shift that day.
The investigation is ongoing.
