Traffic came to an abrupt stop on Highway 16 just west of Cedarvale on Sunday, because a man set his vehicle on fire and was swinging an axe at passing cars.
New Hazelton RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Jeff Pelley said police received reports of the man on the highway in the afternoon. He isn't sure if the Hazelton man hit any vehicles. When officers arrived at the scene the man fled to a driveway of a local residence where after a short negotiation, he surrendered to police without incident.
Bystanders explained that although the situation was unclear they saw a man in a white shirt running in and out of the treeline.
One witness said the 39-year-old man had been talking with RCMP and said he would only talk to one officer. The witness did not have this officer's name.
Approximately 100 vehicles were lined up behind the RCMP blockade for an hour already as they were told it could be another two to five hour wait.
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, The Interior Newsroom received an unusual phone call from a Kitwanga man. He told our reporter that he had phoned the police to surrender, but only to RCMP Officer Bradshaw.
The man told our reporter that he was acting under “full civil disobedience,” and was in a “state of pervasion.”
He claimed he had been “persecuted by the state.” The caller said the “state had prevented him from wearing a kilt.”
The Interior News phoned local authorities to find out more information, but were told that no one by that name had called in.
There is no reported connection between the two incidents.
New Hazelton RCMP are recommending the 39 year old be charged with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, assault with a weapon, intimidation by blocking a highway, arson and mischief.
Police are asking anyone who may have any information regarding this incident, or may have cell phone video footage, to please contact Crime Stopper at 1-800-222-8477 or the New Hazelton RCMP at 250-842-5244.