A video of a man being restrained at Uptown mall by security guards has the public in an uproar.
The video shows security guards sitting on a man's head as they try to cuff him, saying he assaulted an officer by spitting on him.
The video, which has been viewed on Facebook almost 150-thousand times, has some commenters saying the use of force is overkill, with some saying they will boycott the mall until they replace the security company.
However, the video doesn't show the lead up to the incident, and Guard Teck, the security company, says that the individual in the video is well known and has been legally banned from the premises before, and became violent when the security guards approached him.
The statement says that the man has a history of assault, theft, damage to property and mischief at the mall, adding although things escalated this time incidents like these are rare.
Saanich Police confirm they were called to Uptown at around 5:15 pm Wednesday regarding the incident. They are also in possession of the video.
In a statement Saanich PD spokesman Sgt. Jereme Leslie says the matter is under investigation and, as part of the investigation, they will attempt to determine exactly what occurred prior to the video starting. Since the matter is being investigated there's further they can add.
Meantime Uptown general manager Kristy Lowes is apologizing to customers who witnessed "an unfortunate incident " at the mall. She reiterates a man who is legally banned from the site was asked to leave by Security and subsequently assaulted the security officer and was detained until police arrived.
She says the number one priority is creating a safe and friendly environment for all guests, and will conduct a thorough interval review into the incident.