Barricaded man taken into custody
A 30 year old Brockville man was apprehended yesterday afternoon and taken to Brockville General Hospital after a 5 ½ hour standoff at his residence on Havelock Street.
Brockville Police were contacted just after 10:00 a.m. yesterday morning by a family member concerned for the man’s well-being after he became very agitated and upset for no apparent reason and began throwing items inside the residence. Initial responding officers arrived a short time later and spoke with the family member and learned what had taken place earlier in the morning. The young man was still agitated and had retreated to the second floor of the residence. When officers attempted to speak with him he began throwing items of furniture at them from the top of the stairs and then grabbed a weapon and threatened harm to himself and officers on scene.
Responding officers then set up a perimeter inside the residence and called for assistance while maintaining communication with the man inside the house. The family member who contacted the police initially was taken to a neighbour’s residence for safety and the Brockville Fire Department and Leeds and Grenville Emergency Services were contacted about the situation and asked to attend the scene and be on standby, and the Police Services Crisis Negotiators and Emergency Response Team (ERT) were called in to attend the scene. At approximately 12:30 p.m. the ERT team relieved the initial responding officers from their positions inside the residence while negotiators continued to speak to the man inside the residence.
Over the next three hours negotiations continued with the man who eventually retreated to the dark attic of the residence with the weapon and a lighter in his possession. Police utilized some of the Brockville Fire Departments equipment to light up the attic and absorb the paint and other liquid which had been thrown on the stairs to reach the attic area and eventually were able to take the young man into custody.
During the incident one member of the Emergency Response Team was treated by EMS after he had an unknown substance thrown at him and get into his eyes. He suffered only minor discomfort and after treatment was able to return to his position at the scene.
The 30 year old man was conveyed by officers to the Brockville General Hospital emergency for assessment. At the time of the occurrence the man was at large on a Recognizance of Bail for outstanding charges from an August incident at the same residence. This incident remains under investigation.