Over 160 charges recommended against rioters

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Almost five months after rioters smashed downtown Vancouver, police are recommending 163 charges against 60 people.

“We have recommended that each of them be charged with participating in a riot, mischief, assault, break and enter,” says Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu.

Chu credits the VPD‘s massive video database with helping to secure more evidence against suspected rioters, some of whom admitted to some crimes but not others.

Chu points to a 21-year-old Vancouver Island man who saw himself on Facebook and called the VPD to apologize for smashing one car.

Chu says their video evidence shows he was responsible for more damage than he admitted to.

“Mischief to six vehicles in a two-block radius,” Chu says. “He smashed a window with a borrowed skateboard. He assisted in flipping a car. He damaged a door of an unmarked police car and he jumped on several vehicles. He also committed three break-and-enters,” he says.

Sgt. Dale Weidman, the lead investigator on the Integrated Riot Investigation Team, says that video evidence has proved invaluable in many cases.

“Of the 60 suspected rioters we’ve recommended charges against, we found additional video against 37,” he says.

Chu says they expect hundreds of people to eventually be charged.

“Over the next few weeks and months we will be continuing to roll out additional charges,” says Chu.

The Crown’s Neil MacKenzie says he can’t say exactly when charges will be approved, if at all, but a fifth prosecutor has been brought in to help and cases could be in the courts by the end of next month.

“I can’t say, necessarily, how long it is going to take,” MacKenzie says. “We’ve received a number of files and 60 potential accused on the files and each individual file is going to have to be reviewed.

“…It’s not unreasonable to expect that we may see files in court before the end of November, but again, I can’t commit to a specific timeline at this point as far as that’s concerned. Many of these files, I think, will involve a number of hours of video recordings that will have to be reviewed.”

MacKenzie says prosecutors will focus on specific riot areas like London Drugs and the Downtown Vancouver live site.

Premier wants charges laid within 10 days

While police and the Crown want to move ahead carefully, the premier wants the process to move quickly.

Christy Clark says she wants to see riot charges laid within ten days, and she believes a special prosecution team will get the job done.

“They are going to be able to lay the charges quickly, and it also means that once it gets to court you will have a lawyer who is specifically tasked with that small group of cases to get them through as fast as they possibly can,” says Clark.

Clark says those prosecutors have been assigned to deal with suspects caught in localized areas, for example a team dedicated to the London Drugs looting.

“We want this to move fast and if we need to, if there’s more that we need to do in the next step, we’ll do it, but I want to see this fast,” Clark adds.

Clark made the comments at an education funding announcement Monday morning.

Blenz Coffee reacts

George Moen with Blenz Coffee says he’s been waiting for this day for a while and it was well worth the wait.  He’s also pleased police didn’t rush the investigation.

“The one thing I wouldn’t want is some innocent person to be charged.  I think a lot of innocent people have already been hurt enough and it’s time for those people that have been responsible to be brought into the light of justice.”

Moen will be at the courthouse when these cases go to trial because he wants to get a look at the people accused of helping destroy his city.

On riot night, his store was targeted by vandals.  During the summer, Blenz became the first affected business to launch a lawsuit against the people behind the riot.
    
VPD faces heat

Investigators have taken a lot of heat for how long it has taken to lay charges in the case.  There are still several hundred charges pending and investigators have said it could take up to two years for all the suspects to be charged.

Some law experts say despite the charges, the judicial system is so strained that many suspects won’t likely see the inside of a courtroom.

The mayhem caused millions of dollars worth of damage among downtown businesses and there were at 150 injuries.