Security under review after man climbs tower
After spending the night on the roof of Penticton Regional Hospital, a distraught young man was brought down to safety with the help of a police negotiator on Friday morning.
A security guard at the hospital said the man somehow made his way to the top of the new tower that’s under construction, about midnight.
By 8 a.m., many could see the young man, who looked to be in his early 20s, sitting at the edge of the roof, dangling his feet.
“This was somebody in a mental-health crisis. We deployed all interventions and we were able to resolve the situation with a good outcome,” said Penticton RCMP Staff Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck, who was at the scene along with Supt. Ted de Jager.
An RCMP officer in full uniform could be seen on the roof talking to the man at 9 a.m.
The distraught man was put in the back of a police vehicle about 45 minutes later.
Police said he was being taken to the mental health unit at the hospital.
He appeared uninjured and got into the patrol car on his own accord.
Penticton fire department had deployed its rescue equipment as a precaution.
An ambulance was also there all night on standby.
“We deployed resources from Kelowna as well,” said Vatamaniuck.
For the first part of the morning, Government Street, Industrial Avenue and Carmi Drive were closed to traffic.
The situation didn’t appear to affect health services in the hospital.
Ellis Don, the company in charge of building the new tower, is investigating the security footage to determine how the man gained access to the site and then the roof, said Dustin Luchka, Ellis Don’s communications director.