A 21-year-old Sarnia man is in hospital with minor injuries after falling from a roof Monday night, ending a lengthy standoff with city police. Sarnia police, fire and rescue and EMS responded to a disturb the peace call at Russell St. N. and Cameron St. around 6:50pm. Constable John Sottosanti says a distraught man, armed with a knife, had climbed onto the roof of Russell's Corner Variety and refused to come down. He was running around on the roof, waving his arms and yelling incoherently. "The male began throwing objects from the roof and it was observed that he did have a knife on his person at one point," says Constable Sottosanti.
"This limited access for the officers to get onto the roof, for both the safety of the man on the roof and the officers if they attempted to climb up via ladder." Constable Sottosanti says at about 11:50pm a ladder was placed at the side of the building for the man to come down but he pushed it away, slipped and fell to the ground. Lambton EMS transported the man to hospital. Police continue to investigate.
Russell St. N. was closed between Cameron St. and Cobden St. for over five hours.