Date: Aug 19, 2015

File # 15-36412

Victoria, BC – A Victoria man is on foot after receiving a 90-day driving prohibition; the ultimate result of a high-risk vehicle stop which saw the man held at gunpoint by officers.

Just after 4 a.m., on Sunday, August 9th, Patrol officers were on routine patrol in the 300- block of Cook Street when they spotted a man riding a motorcycle with what appeared to be an assault rifle sticking out of his backpack. After calling for back-up, officers conducted a high-risk vehicle stop and took the man into custody.

“We had him prone on the ground at gun point until it was safe enough to get him in handcuffs and under control,” Cst. Hayley Swann said. “He had what looked to be an assault rifle on his back, sticking out of his bag.”

It was only after the man was in custody that officers discovered the weapon was a replica – one that was strikingly realistic.

“We have to treat these weapons as though they are real, and very, very dangerous until we know for certain they’re not,” Cst. Swann said. “Until we know they’re a replica, this weapon poses a potential danger to everybody in the surrounding community, my partner and myself, and most of all the person in possession of it.”

When asked why he would transport the replica weapon in such a fashion, the man indicated that he did so late at night so that he wouldn’t scare anyone.

While questioning the man officers noted signs of alcohol impairment. They demanded a roadside breathalyzer test, which the man failed. When the man failed a second test, he was issued a 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibition, his vehicle towed and his replica assault rifle was seized. No criminal charges are pending at this time.