Victoria police removed a distraught man from a hotel room at Paul’s Motor Inn about 12:30 p.m. Friday, ending a standoff that began several hours earlier.

Officers with guns drawn moved in quickly and took away a shirtless man in shorts. He was taken for medical assessment, acting police spokesman Bowen Osoko said.

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A woman in the room had already surrendered unharmed about 11 a.m. She was returned to the room after the man’s arrest, perhaps to retrieve her belongings, and became agitated at the sight of police doing a search.

She yelled at officers and threw french fries and other food at them.

Police were called about the man around 7:30 a.m., sparking an investigation that led to Paul’s Motor Inn, at 1900 Douglas St. Victoria Police Staff Sgt. Matt Waterman said the caller indicated that a man in distress was threatening to harm himself and also indicated that he would harm police officers if they intervened.

One block of Chatham Street, between Douglas and Government Streets, was closed off about 9:30 a.m. and portions of the hotel area were cleared. The hotel’s restaurant remained open.

“We wanted to ensure the safety of everyone there,” Osoko said.

Despite no confirmation of a weapon, the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team was deployed and an ambulance dispatched.

Police were “acting out of an abundance of caution,” said Waterman.

Negotiators ultimately convinced the man to come out of his ground-floor room without incident, Osoko said.

He said he did not know if the man possessed any weapons. “I know there were indications that he may have been armed.”

No charges have been laid yet. “It’s unclear what charges could result as our investigation is actually at an early stage,” he said. “So we’re still digging through the circumstances, what brought this situation about, what happened.”

Osoko said the case had a successful outcome because no one was hurt, but he acknowledged there was impact on people in the area. One of those was Anna Pepper of Manitoba, who couldn’t get back to the hotel room she is sharing with her son — an out-of-town resident who recently had heart surgery in Victoria.

She said they are in a room at one end of the hotel, quite a distance from where police were concentrating their efforts.

“The police told me that they thought he’s safe there.”

Pepper said her son is getting better and she was sure he would be fine on his own. “He’s pretty good now.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com

rwatts@timescolonist.com