Two Victoria police officers were injured while arresting a man having a mental health crisis on Sunday.
According to police, officers had been called to the intersection of Blanshard Street and Burdett Avenue around 6 a.m.
Reports indicated the man was jumping on the hoods of vehicles and tried to enter a City of Victoria Public Works vehicle, police said.
Investigators said when officers arrived, the man tried to climb on top of their cruiser.
Police efforts to calm the man down were unsuccessful and the man began to fight with officers.
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“During the struggle officers deployed a conducted energy weapon which had no effect,” VicPD said in a media release. “Eventually officers were able to successfully take the man into custody.”
Police said the two officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and were able to later return to duty.
The man was arrested under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital. Police said he didn’t require medical treatment for physical injury.
A recent report by the B.C. Coroners Service found that police in the province are increasingly filling a front-line mental health role, to the point where they are a de facto part of the mental health system.
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