A major downtown street was closed for several hours Friday as police responded to reports of a person lighting fires on the roof of a building.
A man was taken into custody shortly before 4 p.m.
After several hours of a police standoff, the man descended from the rooftop of the Crust Bakery on Fort Street and into an adjacent alleyway, where four members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team arrested him.
One officer fired a round from some type of weapon metres away from the man who was trying to escape. Another officer with a gun ran in and brought him to the ground as the smell of pepper spray wafted into the air.
The man was handcuffed and escorted away through the View Street Parkade shortly after. A canister, ejected from the weapon, was seen lying on the ground.
The incident became apparent about 1:30 p.m., when half a dozen police officers were on scene and a cruiser blocked Fort Street.
B.C. Transit buses that travel on Fort Street detoured to Broughton Street between Douglas and Blanshard streets. The sidewalk around 728 Fort St., outside Jimmy’s Barber Shop and Crust Bakery, was cordoned off.
Shortly after 2 p.m., police began asking nearby businesses to close.
Dutch Bakery & Diner co-owner Michelle Byrnes began turning away customers with an improvised sign in front of the diner.
“Friday is usually our busiest day,” she said.
Police had told Byrnes that customers might be stuck behind police lines were the situation to change, she said.
The number of emergency responders started increasing by 2 p.m., as the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team began to arrive in several unmarked vehicles, carrying long guns and various equipment.
Despite the heavy police presence, oblivious pedestrians and motorists kept crossing police lines and had to be escorted out.
Byrnes said that the rooftops on her side of Fort Street are easily scaled, and businesses have suffered break-ins and various other incidents in recent weeks.
“I’m grateful he isn’t on my roof,” she said.
A ladder truck from the Victoria Fire Department was used to bring several GVERT members onto the roofs of adjacent buildings.
By 3:30 p.m., police had extended their lines to the Royal Bank building on the corner, pushing back more than 100 bystanders who had gathered to watch.
Ten minutes later, GVERT members on top of an adjacent building were seen attempting to coax the visibly agitated man to leave the rooftop of Crust Bakery while people watched from the neighbouring View Street Parkade.
“This is not what I wanted to have happen,” the man said in response, but he refused to leave and was hostile to negotiators.
Holding a cord in his hand, the man — who was shirtless and wearing a bandana over his face at the time — began whipping the roof and adjacent structures. He put on a black jacket before attempting to escape.
An ambulance was on standby for much of the day at various spots on Fort Street.
Police did not immediately respond to questions about whether anyone was injured during the incident and what type of round was discharged during the arrest.
