A man has been arrested after assaulting two employees at a liquor store in Saanich early this morning.
On May 26, 2022, at 9 a.m. officers responded to a call of an assault in progress inside a liquor store in the 3200 block of Shelbourne Street. The suspect was said to have brandished a knife toward at least one of the staff members and witnesses saw the man chasing the staff with the knife inside the store.
Officers were able to respond quickly and with the assistance of the Integrated Canine Section, located the man hiding in some bushes nearby. He was taken into police custody without incident. The knife was found discarded nearby and seized by officers.
After speaking to witnesses and staff, it was believed that the altercation started when staff asked the man to leave the store shortly after it opened at 9 a.m. this morning. The man became agitated and began physically assaulting one of the employees. When another employee tried to intervene, the man violently bit that employee and brandished a large knife, threatening both with it before eventually leaving the store.
One of the employees was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries related to the bite injury to their arm. The other employee was treated by paramedics at the scene.
The man, 35, is known to police and is facing charges of assault causing bodily harm, breach of conditions of not to possess weapons, and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. He remains in custody pending a bail hearing later today.
File 22-9906
Cst. Markus Anastasiades
Public Information & Communications Officer
[email protected]