Man arrested after allegedly "hitting" bus, trying to get into cars at Vancouver gas station

A man who allegedly blocked a road, tried to get into cars, and yelled at passersby was arrested under the Mental Health Act at a gas station in South Vancouver on Sunday night, police said on Tuesday.

In a release, VPD said officers were called to a Chevron near Main Street and 41st Avenue on Sunday, just after 11 pm, for reports of the man’s behaviour, which police said also included “hitting a bus.”

Police said that when officers arrived on the scene, the man in question “continuously yelled” at police to shoot him.

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“Officers began negotiating with the man, but there were no changes in his behaviour,” police said. It wasn’t until officers “challenged him with less lethal options” that he complied and listened to police direction.

VPD Const. Tania Visintin said the man was “sweating profusely, his eyes were dilated and he was giving our members the ‘thousand yard stare.'”

Officers, she said, “were able to safely get the man in custody before he hurt himself or anyone else around him.”

The 33-year-old Vancouver man was apprehended by officers and taken to hospital.