Audio of the 911 calls on the night of the 2011 Vancouver hockey riots showed the terror of employees and customers trapped inside the Bay as rioters and looters attacked the store.
“Oh, my God! There’s a fire in the Bay, there’s a fire in the Bay,” yells a panicked passerby to the police emergency line, audio of which was played Wednesday in B.C. Provincial court in Vancouver.
“They’re stealing everything they can get their hands on. Call out the National Guard or the army. I don’t see one officer out here.”
The audio and video was replayed as part of evidence against Willmar Ovando-Renderos, 25, of Surrey.
He is being sentenced after pleading guilty to rioting for his part in the five-hours melee after the Vancouver Canucks hockey team lost the Stanley Cup final on June 15, 2011.
Ovando-Renderos, his head shaved and wearing a black sports jacket, sat in court watching the video without comment. He was accompanied by nine family members, including a girl under 10 years of age.
Ovando-Renderos, holding a bandana over his face, kicked an Audi that was later destroyed, threw objects at windows and entered Sterling Shoes and stole three purses.
“They’re coming in and stealing our merchandise,” a store detective at the Bay said in a separate 911 call.
“There’s a whole mob in here. They’re stealing purses and high-end watches. I’m concerned about our safety.”
Another employee spoke to a 911 operator as she and about 100 other staff and customers trapped in the store by the rioters look for an exit and eventually headed to the loading dock to wait for police.
“There are people outside with weapons and the fire alarm is sounding and there’s a fire outside the door,” the caller said, the fear evident in her voice.
The prosecution called Ovando-Renderos an instigator during the riot and is recommending the judge sentence him to four months in jail.
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