Vancouver Police use dog and beanbag gun in arrest of suspect who hid in dumpster

Vancouver Police say they arrested an armed man in Kitsilano who tried to hide from officers in a dumpster.

The Vancouver Police Department says officers used a police dog and a beanbag shotgun in the arrest of the man who had reportedly been in people’s backyards in the area of the Arbutus greenway.

Police say the man was allegedly threatening people with a pair of gardening shears.

Officers say they found the man in an alley on Arbutus, but he fled into a “compound” behind a business and was later found at the bottom of a dumpster beneath “several layers of garbage.”

Police say the suspect was still armed with the gardening shears and was bitten by a police dog and hit with beanbag shotgun rounds during the arrest.

The department says the 31-year-old man was taken into custody and treated for his injuries, and was already wanted provincewide on a warrant for assault, uttering threats and other charges.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press