VicPD have arrested a man after he assaulted an officer and led officers on a foot chase Monday night.
Just before 6:30 p.m., on July 11th officers were called to a multi-unit supportive housing facility in the 700-block of Queens Avenue following a report that several unwanted people were in front of the property.
An attending officer asked the group to leave the property, however as the officer spoke, a man within the group began to act suspiciously and gave the officer a false name.
When the officer told the man he was under arrest, the man punched him in the chest and fled on foot.
The officer called for back-up and began to chase the suspect.
Additional officers, responding to the call for back-up, observed the man running through the Quadra Heights playground near the intersection of Rutledge and Villance streets.
Officers continued to chase the man on foot as he leapt the fences of several residences in the 3100-block of Alder Street.
When officers briefly lost sight of the suspect, an area resident left their home to call out to officers “he went that way” and pointed officers towards the backyard of a nearby residence.
This led officers to locate the suspect in a nearby background, in the process of climbing the fence.
Officers pulled the suspect to the ground where he continued to attempt to fight officers until he was taken into custody.
As the officer was arresting the suspect, a pair of brass knuckles fell out of the suspect’s pocket.
The suspect then indicated he was in medical distress and paramedics were dispatched to the scene.
The suspect was transported to hospital, treated and released back into police custody.
Two officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the incident and were both treated on scene by a VicPD Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) police officer.
Upon searching the suspect’s backpacks, officers located a knife and bear spray, as well as identification documents and a credit card belonging to someone other than the suspect and believed to be stolen.
The officers also learned the suspect was in breach of numerous conditions ordered in as part of the sentence of a previous offense.
The suspect was transported to VicPD cells. He faces recommended charges including assaulting a police officer, obstruction and illegal possession of identity documents as well as three weapons possession charges and six charges for violating a variety of court-ordered conditions.
Anyone with information regarding this incident that has not yet spoken with officers is asked to contact the VicPD at (250) 995-7654.
