Man arrested after allegedly flooding 18-storey high rise apartment
A man has been arrested after allegedly flooding 18 storeys of a Melbourne high-rise apartment building by turning on more than a dozen fire hydrants.
Guests and residents of a Southbank complex were forced to flee when a massive cascade of water flooded the building.
The man who caused the chaos was subdued in a dramatic arrest.
Police negotiated with the man before he lashed out and was pinned down and arrested.
The late-night prank left the lifts swamped, with one resident describing the scene as “absolutely chaos”.
“The further down we went the deeper and deeper the water got,” guest Rebecca told 7 News.
“We didn’t know what was going on.”
Around 120 residents and guests were evacuated onto City Road around 9.40pm on Sunday night and forced to sleep elsewhere.
“There were people in pyjamas, people in slippers and T-shirts, people with small babies,” Rebecca said.
“The fire doors actually contained all the water, water did creep under the carpet but nothing an air blower can’t fix,” Bella Apartments’ Cameron Jeffrey said.
“We relocated all our guests, covered all their costs.”
With the electricity turned off on Monday, staff at the apartment complex had to escort guests who were leaving back up to their rooms to collect their belongings.
With the lifts out of action, it was a long climb up 21 flights of stairs for some.
The 27-year-old suspect from Traralgon is undergoing a psychiatric assessment.
“He just went berko,” Rebecca said.
Another guest, Aidan Lockwood, was not impressed.
“He’s caused a whole lot of drama, a whole lot of grief for a whole lot of families,” Mr Lockwood said.
