Abbotsford Mental Health Act arrest prompts IIO probe [Video]

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 …