A 30-year-old from Hamilton has been charged with assault with a weapon, arson (disregard for human life) and utter threats to cause death or bodily harm.
A 30-year-old from Hamilton has been charged with assault with a weapon, arson (disregard for human life) and utter threats to cause death or bodily harm.
A Hamilton man is facing a handful of charges, including arson, after an hours-long standoff with police in the city’s east end Thursday afternoon.
Hamilton police Const. Indy Bharaj told The Spectator officers were called around 12:40 p.m. to a low-rise apartment building on Melvin Avenue, near Tolton Avenue, for reports of a person with a knife.
Bharaj said a man called 911 alleging he had been attacked by another man with a knife. The victim said the man cut his right ear and punched him in the face twice.
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After the alleged assault, the man with the knife ran back to his apartment, Bharaj said. Police arrived minutes later.
When officers tried to speak with the suspect, he barricaded himself inside the apartment, leading to a nearly four-hour standoff.
Bharaj said the standoff came to an end when the suspect “propped open” the back window of his unit and “climbed out” with smoke billowing from the window.
Officers from the emergency response unit arrested the man without incident.
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Bharaj said the Hamilton Fire Department responded and extinguished a fire the suspect allegedly set inside the unit. Damages were estimated at $300,000, he added.
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Hamilton fire Chief Dave Cunliffe told The Spectator that crews found a fire in a basement unit at the building. While the blaze was put out quickly, the unit was “heavily damaged.”
Cunliffe said smoke spread throughout the building during the fire, which saw three tenants removed from their apartments on the third floor and checked by paramedics.
Bharaj said the arrested man, a 30-year-old from Hamilton, has been charged with assault with a weapon, arson (disregard for human life) and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
The two men were known to each other, Bharaj confirmed, but he wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of their relationship.
The suspect’s bail was opposed and he remains in custody.
