Wanted man bitten by police dog after hiding from officers in Vancouver dumpster

A Vancouver Police Department patch is seen on an officer's uniform as she makes a phone call after responding to an unknown incident on Saturday, January 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A man who led police on a chase through Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood was arrested Sunday after he was found hiding at the bottom of a dumpster.

In a release issued Sunday evening, the Vancouver Police Department said officers had to deploy a police dog and a beanbag shotgun to arrest the man, who was armed.

The incident unfolded around noon on Sunday, when police were called to reports of a suspicious man rifling through people’s backyards along the Arbutus Greenway, near Maple Street, said the release.

The VPD received further reports shortly after that the man was armed with a pair of gardening shears and was threatening people in the neighbourhood.

Police said the man was found in a lane near Arbutus Greenway, but quickly fled into a compound behind a business where he attempted to barricade himself in from officers.

A police dog found the man at the bottom of a dumpster, hiding under “several layers” of garbage and still wielding the gardening shears, the release said.

During his arrest, the man had fought the police dog and was bitten in the process, alongside being hit by rounds from a beanbag shotgun issued by the arresting officers.

“He remains in custody and is receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained during the arrest,” the release said.

The 31-year-old was already wanted on several province-wide offences at the time of the arrest, said police, including assault, assault by choking, uttering threats, and mischief.