IIO seeks witnesses to Abbotsford Mental Health Act arrest

Investigators from B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office are seen in this file photo from the IIO.

The agency that investigates cases of death and serious harm related to police in B.C. has been called to Abbotsford.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. is asking members of the public to get in touch if they witnessed an arrest on Saturday that left a man with injuries. The office is also working to determine whether the injuries meet its definition of "serious harm."

The arrest occurred at a residential building on Riverside Road, the IIO said in a news release Wednesday.

The Abbotsford Police Department told the IIO its officers responded to a unit in the building after receiving "a report of a man threatening people and damaging property."

When they arrived, the man locked himself inside, according to the IIO release.

"Officers attempted to get the man to exit the unit but were unsuccessful," the release reads. "They later observed a fire inside and used force to enter the dwelling. There was an interaction and officers used less-lethal force. The man was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to a hospital where it was determined he had suffered injuries."

The IIO did not elaborate on what type of "less-lethal force" was used, nor the nature of the injuries the man suffered.

The civilian oversight agency is asking anyone with relevant information to contact its witness line at 855-446-8477 or fill out the contact form on its website.

"Serious harm" is defined in the Police Act as "injury that may result in death, may cause serious disfigurement or may cause substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body as a whole or of the function of any limb or organ."

The IIO is tasked with investigating all incidents involving police officers in B.C. that result in death or serious harm to a member of the public, regardless of whether there is any allegation of wrongdoing on the part of police.