Armed police arrest man after ‘dramatic’ morning raid on town centre flat

Armed police raided a property in Rodney Road, Great Yarmouth this morning. Photo: William John Reilly Adair (Image: Archant)

Armed police took a man into custody on Friday morning after a flat raid on Rodney Road at roughly 9.15am, after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

They said: “Officers executed a warrant at an address in Rodney Road in Great Yarmouth and seized some cannabis and what’s believed to be an imitation firearm.

“A man, aged in his 20s, was arrested in connection with the incident.

“He has since been released under investigation while our enquiries are ongoing.”

One eyewitness claimed that there were 15 to 20 police officers present at the scene, as well as a dog unit with sniffer dogs.

Though police described the raid as standard procedure, a neighbour who lives opposite said the situation seemed “dramatic”, as he was ordered to return to his house and stay inside.

He said: “I saw the entire thing from my window.

“There were two unmarked police cars sitting outside my house at 7.30am, and half an hour after that some more police showed up with big guns.

“They cordoned the street off and told me to get back inside.

“It was pretty shocking and a bit scary - I definitely wasn’t expecting to wake up to anything like that this morning.

“They were shouting at the guy in the building, telling him to make himself known, and eventually he was brought outside wearing nothing but shorts and trainers.”

The eyewitness added that from what he could see, detectives appeared to enter the property later on, with police leaving the scene at around 11am but later returning.

Another woman who lives around the corner from the Rodney Road flat said that two police cars were parked outside her house and that she saw them pass by her window with guns in hand.

A man passing the scene mid-raid said he could hear “lots of shouting going on with police asking the person to come down and cooperate with them”.