Victoria police tase sword-wielding man in downtown arrest

A Victoria police vehicle is pictured outside the department's headquarters in downtown Victoria: (CTV News)

Police in Victoria are looking for witnesses after a sword- and knife-wielding man was arrested downtown over the weekend.

Around 4 p.m. Saturday, officers received a report of a man allegedly waving the weapons toward people in a “threatening manner,” and he was apprehended in the 800-block of Yates Street.

“The suspect ignored the officers’ instructions and resisted arrest, so a conductive energy weapon, commonly referred to as a Taser, was deployed,” the Victoria Police Department wrote in a news release Tuesday.

“The suspect, while still armed, continued to resist arrest until eventually officers were able to bring him into custody with the assistance of additional responding members.”

The suspect—identified as Robert Allen Dick—was taken to hospital for treatment and then sent to jail, police said.

He has been charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, and one each of possession of a weapon, resisting arrest and breach of release order.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to call the VicPD at [phone] ext. 1, or leave an anonymous tip to Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers.