As three young Victoria residents drove north in the 3200 block of Douglas Street, their attention was drawn to a nearby green Ford van that was being driving erratically.  The van was swerving in its lane and nearly hit another car.   This happened at around 8:30pm on January 20th.

The three Victoria residents, a man and two women, stopped their car for a red light at Douglas and Cloverdale.  Stopped next to them was the van.  A 39 year old Duncan woman in the passenger seat of the van, fingered the three while the 37 year old Duncan man driving the van, got out and verbally confronted them.  He yelled obscene names at the woman driving the other car before getting back into his van.

Both vehicles continued up Douglas Street with the van now in front of the other car.  The man driving the van suddenly slammed on his brakes causing the other car to brake hard.  The woman driving this car then pulled into the Shell gas station at Douglas and Saanich.  The van followed.

The Duncan man got out and confronted the 20 year old man riding in the other car.  A brief consensual fight broke out between the two of them but it ended when the Duncan man yelled to his woman passenger to get his gun.  The 20 year old man quickly fled and called 911.

The Duncan man and woman drove off, north up the Trans Canada Highway.  Saanich Police responded and stopped the van by the Helmcken Rd overpass.  Both occupants were arrested.  A search of the van did not turn up a gun.

While dealing with the man, officers found evidence that he was impaired and arrested him for not only Uttering Threats, but also for Impaired Driving.  As the investigation continued, members learned that the man had two outstanding warrants of arrest for Failing to Appear and Obstructing a Peace Officer.

Both the man and the woman were taken to the Saanich Police Department.  The woman was later released after the investigation found no evidence that she had committed a crime.  The man however was retained in custody.  Breath samples were not provided by the man who was confrontational with officers, demanding to fight them.  In the interests of everyone’s safety, the man was put into a jail cell where he was held until his court appearance today, January 21st.

The 37 year old man is well known to police with an extensive criminal record.  Police are requesting that he be remanded in custody until his next court appearance.

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