Winnipeg police temporarily closed down Bannatyne Avenue Tuesday to traffic during a standoff with a man on top of a home.

"All I can tell you is upon arrival, he was on the roof," said Const. Jeffrey Norman with Winnipeg police.

Officers responded around 11 a.m. to the 400 block of Bannatyne Avenue.

Police said demolition crews had previously arrived to tear down the house. 

The man on the roof was then spotted throwing chunks of glass at workers nearby, said police.

"I just heard, ‘Watch out' and then I heard the hard hat give a bonk (sound)," said Jordan Imrie from Imrie Demolition.

The glass bounced off the man's hard hat and no injuries were reported. Another six-inch chunk of glass went through the window of a construction vehicle. 

"He just came out throwing blocks at everybody," said Imrie. 

The home belongs to Ed Ackerman, who previously ran for mayor of Winnipeg.

Friends said the man was defending his property from demolition. 

"He wants them to stop demolishing his house. So, in a state of desperation, he's climbed the roof," said John Paskievich, who is making a documentary about Ackerman. 

In October 2010, another property, a building known as the Alphabet House on Gertie Street, that was owned by Ackerman was demolished by the city. 

Officials said they had warned the owner for years to fix it up or it would be demolished due to bylaws.

Around 4 p.m., Ackerman was taken down from the roof on Bannatyne. A fire department ladder-truck got close to the roof.  Police and fire crews inside it helped Ackerman off the roof. 

Officers said the incident ended peacefully and the man was taken into custody. Police said charges of assault with a weapon and mischief under $5,000 were laid.

"All my life's work was inside the house," said Ackerman. 

Less than an hour after Ackerman came down, crews started tearing down the home. 

- with a report from CTV's Jon Hendricks