A melee erupted in downtown Victoria Thursday (July 11) night after a man who outreach workers say has severe mental health problems and a seizure disorder was surrounded by police and tased after he attacked a paramedic.
Grant McKenzie, a spokesperson from Our Place, said workers from the non-profit social services organization have been trying to get help for this person — identified by police as Hayden Hamlyn, but also known to others as Joshua — to no avail.
"For months, we have been calling for help for this individual who's accused of the attack...they have suffered multiple head injuries, they are not in the right mind," McKenzie said." And we haven't been able to get the help they needed."
Meanwhile, Del Manak, Victoria's chief of police, called this an "escalation in aggressive behaviour and violence towards first responders," saying he has come to an agreement with the city that paramedics and firefighters will not respond to calls on that block of Pandora without police present.
"Let me be clear: this is a required step in response to escalated tensions we have observed, but it is going to create significant workload pressures on VicPD and reduce timeliness of medical response, in situations where every second counts," Manak's statement reads.
A news release from the VicPD says officers were surrounded by approximately 60 hostile bystanders after the arrest, and forced to call in more officers from neighbouring police departments. VicPD wrote on social media that this included officers from Saanich and Oak Bay, as well as West Shore RCMP.
According to police, at about 7:50 p.m on Thursday, paramedics were flagged down on the 900-block of Pandora for a man in need of medical assistance. While treating the individual, he attacked one of the paramedics, striking and kicking them in the face. The paramedic fled towards a fire truck, but was pursued by the individual.
The paramedic was transported to the hospital for treatment, as were two police officers with minor injuries. Hamlyn was charged on Friday with assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon and obstructing a peace officer. He remains in custody.
Joseph White identified himself as Hamlyn's uncle and said he witnessed the arrest. He said his nephew is 26 years old, but called him Joshua instead of Hayden. Other people Black Press Media spoke to said he is known by either name.
"The police were all standing around, trying to get him to calm down," White said. "I was trying to get him to go in the ambulance with the paramedics."
Then Hamlyn started scuffling with one of the paramedics.
"And police got to protect the paramedics, I get that part," White said. "But then they got excessive."
White said he has noticed changes in Hamlyn over the past few months, and that those changes have gotten worse over the past couple weeks since a previous altercation with police.
"He's paranoid right now, he thinks everyone's trying to kill him," White said. "He's very scared."
White said there were about 10 police officers around Hamlyn, and when he wouldn't calm down, police tased him two or three times. The scene then took a turn for the worse, with bystanders becoming involved.
Both McKenzie, White and a man named "Jacob" — who identified himself as a good friend of Hamlyn's — said they have been trying to get Hamlyn help for several months now.
"He's no longer himself," Jacob said, adding that it has recently seemed like Hamlyn has reverted back to a child stage. "He's scared and doesn't know what's going on."
McKenzie said outreach workers from Our Place have called police, social workers and medical providers, but have consistently been told that they had to "wait for something bad to happen" before he could get treatment under the Mental Health Act.
"First off, we're very upset that first responder was injured. We believe everybody should be safe in the job that they're doing," McKenzie said. "We're also heartbroken because this is an incident that could have been prevented."
