A man was transported to hospital with puncture wounds after being taken down by a police services dog in downtown Nanaimo earlier this week.
An off-duty officer spotted an irate man yelling while he walked into traffic near the intersection of Albert Street and Cavan Street around 9:20 a.m. on Oct. 18, according to a release from Nanaimo RCMP. The officer alerted others via radio and then followed the man in his truck.
He got out of his vehicle with his police dog, Herc, and tried to speak with the man, who had begun to approach people in the street.
“The officer quickly learned that the man was very upset that someone had apparently stolen his suitcase. The officer offered to help him look for it, but the man was not interested in speaking with the officer and repeatedly told him to leave,” the release reads.
Police said the man threatened both the officer and Herc with death during a conversation that lasted several minutes. While they spoke, the officer noticed the man was sweating profusely, acting erratically and walking back and forth in traffic.
As other officers arrived on scene, the man was told to get on the ground because he was under arrest, but he refused. The RCMP officer deployed his police dog and, with the assistance of the other officers, the man was arrested, according to the release.
After being treated for several puncture wounds at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, the 47-year-old man was placed in a cell at the RCMP detachment and later released. He faces one count of uttering threats and is scheduled to appear in Nanaimo Provincial Court in December.
