Police say the man retrieved from the Inner Harbour on Wednesday night has been arrested on outstanding warrants.
At around 4:20 p.m. on Oct. 14, VicPD officers were called to a report of a person in distress in the water on the south side of the Johnson Street bridge.
“We get calls for service all the time that come in as one thing and they end up being something completely different. That is the nature of this job,” said Const. Cam MacIntyre with VicPD. “This situation was no different.”
Multiple officers searched for the individual after arriving. Police said initial efforts included an officer entering the water and searching underneath nearby docks. The officer in the water searched for the missing man for about 20 minutes, according to MacIntyre. He was treated by B.C. Emergency Health Services paramedics for his exposure to the cold water.
Other officers remained on scene as the search went on. The Victoria Fire Department, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, and the Saanich Police Dive Team also took part in the search.
“We [were] searching for someone who had been in the water for several hours. We know that water is cold, we know that it is dangerous,” said MacIntyre. “We know that this person’s life is in peril and your mind can’t help but turn to what could be the worst possible situation.”
At about 7:20 p.m., while the Saanich Police Dive Team was conducting their search, the man surfaced and was pulled from the water by officers.
“It is remarkable that he came out of that situation relatively unscathed with non-life threatening injuries,” MacIntyre said. “He had suffered some cold exposure which he was treated at the hospital for.”
Police said the investigation revealed the man intentionally went into the water off the docks south of the Johnson Street Bridge wearing a large, heavy backpack. Once in distress, the man reportedly asked a bystander to contact 911. The man then submerged into the water and could no longer be seen.
When officers pulled the man from the water, they confirmed his identity.
“In learning who this person was, we learned he was the subject of multiple warrants,” said MacIntyre.
Police believe the man remained under the decking of a floating dock for the duration of the search and may have been attempting to avoid police detection due to the outstanding warrants.
“Whether he was unable to communicate with us or whether he was playing hide and seek given that he had a number of unendorsed warrants is certainly a consideration,” MacIntyre said.
The man’s outstanding warrants include unendorsed warrants for offences including assault, forcible entry, assaulting a police officer causing bodily harm, and uttering threats.
VicPD handcuffed and arrested the man after identifying him. Once the man was medically cleared, officers transported him to cells where he was held to await morning court.
The man’s name has not been released by police. However, police say the man is not Dallis Briet, who was the subject of a wanted alert Wednesday night, which was issued around the same time that the man missing in the Inner Harbour was pulled from the water.
Briet has not been located at this time.
Jasmine Bala
