Delta police peacefully defuse mental health crisis after man climbs on family’s car

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DELTA (NEWS 1130) — Police officers in Delta are being praised by their police chief for their compassion and training after a man going through a mental health episode was spotted walking and spinning, naked, down the street Tuesday night.

Cris Leykauf with Delta Police says at one point, the man climbed onto a vehicle carrying a family with two children, jumped on it, and then got inside. He was quickly removed by a family member.

She says police found him walking down the middle of 120th street a short while later.

“Officers recognized the man appeared to be scared and worried, and did their best to speak to him in a calm voice, asking him to sit down on the centre median, and then they were able to safely and peacefully apprehend him under the Mental Health Act,” she says.

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The man was then taken to hospital.

Leykauf says police are trained to handle things like this. She says officers have extensive critical incident and mental health intervention training to deescalate situations when someone is in crisis.

“Honestly, our officers deal with people who are in crisis regularly, and this type of peaceful resolution is very reflective of the type of work that our officers regularly do.”

She says the family was not hurt in the incident, and their car suffered only minor damage.

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