It was anyone's guess what could have happened during a takedown of a man fleeing down the Skytrain tracks in Vancouver on Wednesday, said a transit policeman.
As Const. Doug Francis watched his colleagues attempt to talk down the 24-year-old fugitive clinging to a railing, he thought any wrong move would be disastrous.
"I think he knew his fate at that time and he was probably thinking about what he was going to do next," said Francis.
"In a situation like that, from our point of view, all we can do is watch and hope for the best," he said.
Yesterday afternoon, a stolen vehicle was spotted in New Westminster. Police tried to stop the driver with spike belts, but he continued on.
The driver crashed the car in Burnaby, and then in Vancouver.
"None of them were serious, and we don't believe anybody was hurt as a result of those accidents," said Const. Terry Wilson of the New Westminster Police.
The driver finally abandoned the vehicle at Broadway and Rupert, and the passenger he was with took off.
"I saw the driver running out, swearing, chasing after someone else. I don't even know where he went," said one witness.
That's when officers saw the man walking along the SkyTrain track. When two officers started to close in on him, he began to run for the first time.
He then climbed behind a power grid, and hung on tightly to the railing -- 35 feet up.
Const. Francis was standing below. He says it was a Vancouver transit policeman with 16 years experience who talked the man down.
First, he convinced the fugitive to hand over his coat, and then his wallet. It took 20 minutes, but he finally gave himself up.
"Most officers, to any distraught people, they try to bring their level of anxiety down," said Francis.
"It's very important that we establish some type of positive relationship with that person," he said.
The man was arrested and taken away in handcuffs.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander
