Vancouver police say their resources were stretched thin this past weekend after responding to at least eight incidents of violent crime, including assault, stabbings and road rage.
Between Friday and Sunday, officers arrested five suspects.
“We’ve been contending with a significant amount of violent crime in the city for some time,” said Sgt. Steve Addison in a Monday press conference.
“A lot of the crime that we have talked about tended to be confined to the north end of the city, to the downtown core and east side, however, we’re also seeing an increase in concerning incidents that have occurred in the South Slope on the west side.”
On Friday, police said a cab driver was injured after a passenger allegedly assaulted him, threatened him and forced him to drive from Richmond to downtown Vancouver. The passenger, who appeared paranoid and thought people were following him, allegedly ordered the driver to speed through red lights and veer into oncoming traffic.
Police arrested the suspect after he got out of the cab and allegedly threatened staff at a London Drugs near Granville and Georgie streets. The 43-year-old has been charged with assault with a weapon, uttering threats, and possession of a weapon, and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to a news release.
On Saturday, police responded to several incidents of assault.
Residents of a Pendrell Street apartment called 911 after an altercation in the elevator of their building. Police said a man suffered non-life-threatening injuries after reportedly confronting a neighbour who refused to wear a face mask in the lift.
The 56-year-old neighbour allegedly attacked the man with a knife and has been charged with assault with a weapon and uttering threats.
Later that afternoon, Vancouver police said they found a 39-year-old man bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the neck. Investigators believe he was stabbed in an apartment near Granville and Nelson streets and wandered outside before collapsing on the sidewalk.
He was taken to the hospital for surgery and is expected to survive, but police have not made any arrests.
In East Vancouver on Saturday, police said a fast-food worker had to defend himself with a bread knife in the midst of a violent robbery on Powell Street. The suspect grabbed the man by the neck, stole the cash register and fled, but police were able to track him down and arrest him.
That evening, near Abbott and Pender streets, police said a man was arrested and charged with mischief and assault after kicking over signs, smearing blood on railings and flicking blood at security guards. He was bleeding from his hand while walking through International Village, said a news release, and was later recognized in security footage from previous incidents.
A chronic offender with 128 prior convictions was also arrested Saturday and charged with robbery. Police said a man was waiting in his truck near Stadium SkyTrain station and was approached by a knife-wielding suspect around 5:30 p.m. The suspect allegedly climbed into the bed of the truck, demanded money and threatened to slash the tires.
Officers arrested the suspect nearby and he remains in custody.
Meanwhile, police are searching for the suspect in a violent case of road rage near the Vancouver General Hospital.
On Saturday afternoon, a pedestrian reportedly punched the driver of a vehicle who slammed the brakes to avoid hitting her after she darted out in front of his vehicle. She allegedly broke his glasses and sprayed him in the face with an unknown substance. The suspect fled before police arrived and is described as a Black woman in her forties with dreadlocks and black clothes.
On Sunday morning, police said the host of a house party in Oakridge was assaulted with bear spray after refusing to let a stranger into the house. There were no serious injuries, said the news release and police broke up the party.
Addison said the Vancouver Police Department is always “stretched quite thin” — a problem that’s exacerbated by “serious” crimes that require more resources to investigate.
Those calls can tie up a dozen officers at once, he told reporters, but the public can help by promptly calling 911 during an emergency or crime in progress, which helps officers arrive in time to make an arrest or find evidence at the scene.
Addison couldn’t “pinpoint the exact cause” of the weekend crime surge, but said violent crime, including unprovoked stranger assaults, has been on the rise for some time.
Right now, he added, he isn’t concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the VPD’s workforce, where contingency plans are in place in the event of an outbreak among staff.