Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 03/02) - A dramatic incident that shut down an entire downtown city block last week was a misunderstanding caused by a malicious prank phone call, said the man who was taken into custody.

Tim Caisse, 54, a former Giant Mine employee currently on disability, spent close to 24 hours in custody after police surrounded his 51st Street home directly behind Home Hardware late last Thursday afternoon.

They believed he was drunk, armed, and uttering threats.

It was a rude awakening for Caisse, who was sleeping when a police negotiator phoned his home. Caisse told Yellowknifer he had been drinking that afternoon before falling asleep.

"That's a good way to wake up, isn't it," said Caisse.

At least 15 armed RCMP officers, with assistance from Yellowknife Municipal Enforcement, closed off a stretch of downtown extending from Franklin Avenue to 52nd Avenue and from 52nd Street to 51st Street. They responded after receiving a phone call that a man was brandishing a gun inside a home.

Black-clad members of the police emergency response team, armed with semi-automatic rifles, took up positions around the house as negotiators tried to coax Caisse out.

"I told them right then and there I don't have a gun in the house, and they just asked me to come out," said Caisse.

"They just guided me to the door," he added.

Barefoot, and clad only in his underwear and a housecoat, Caisse exited the house and was quickly taken into custody.

He was released the next afternoon.

Police are being tight-lipped about the case.

"The matter is being investigated and that's all we can say right now," said Sgt. Al McCambridge.

Asked if anyone other than Caisse was under investigation, McCambridge again replied that, "the matter is being investigated."

Caisse praised the police handling of the situation.

"I've got no problems with it. They weren't rough with me," he said.

He added that police complimented him on his behaviour during the incident.

"They told me I didn't panic, that I kept my head," said Caisse.

Caisse's wife was taken to hospital and received two stitches over one eyebrow. She cut herself, said Caisse, after slipping down some stairs while doing laundry.

His wife's 77-year-old father and another relative were also in the home during the incident.