‘Like something out of a movie’: Witness describes police takedown at Massey Tunnel

In this portion of a video shared with CTV News by David Cain, police search the suspect's vehicle while he is handcuffed on the ground.

A dramatic police takedown involving officers from three different agencies snarled traffic around the Massey Tunnel for hours Saturday, even though the arrest took only minutes.

David Cain watched the incident unfold from the Rice Mill Road overpass in Richmond, almost directly above where police took a suspect into custody on Highway 99.

“It was like something out of a movie scene,” he said.

Cain, who works for Metro Traffic Management and is assigned to the ongoing tunnel replacement project, told CTV News he watched as police blocked traffic on the highway in both directions, the RCMP Air 1 helicopter hovering overhead.

He said police followed the suspect’s vehicle out of the tunnel in the northbound lanes. The suspect, stuck in traffic, got out of the grey SUV and surrendered.

In Cain’s video of the incident, 10 officers—some of them carrying rifles—and a police dog can be seen collaborating on the arrest. The suspect, a man in a light-coloured sweatsuit, can be seen lying on his stomach on the ground. He initially holds his arms out, then puts them behind his back at the direction of officers.

Cain said “dozens” of officers and vehicles from Richmond RCMP, the Delta Police Department and the Surrey Police Service descended on the scene.

In emails to CTV News, the SPS confirmed the incident originated in its jurisdiction.

Officers were called to the 13500 block of King George Boulevard around 10:20 a.m. for what was initially reported as “shots fired,” but turned out not to be.

“It was an individual who broke a window of a business with a hammer who then fled in a vehicle,” said SPS spokesperson Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, in the email.

“As the suspect was making his way into Richmond, SPS officers were able to quickly review CCTV footage and confirm it was not a shooting.”

If there had been a shooting, the police response likely would have been even larger, with the heavily armed Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team called to assist, Houghton said.

“Even someone with a hammer that is willing to use it to violently break a window on a Saturday morning requires a significant police response given we don’t know what else he’s able and willing to do if he’s able and willing to do that,” he said.

The arrest occurred shortly before 11:15 a.m., less than an hour after the initial call, according to Houghton.

The traffic impact lasted much longer. When Cain spoke to CTV News around 1:30 p.m., he was stuck in traffic that he attributed to lingering congestion from the police incident.

According to DriveBC, police continued blocking the left lane northbound until around 1 p.m., and "heavy congestion" remained after that time.

The southbound lanes reopened shortly after the arrest was complete.