Tuesday March 14, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
West Shore RCMP say they continue to deal with a barrage of youth-related disturbance calls.
In a news release yesterday, RCMP reported on the weekend period of Friday March 10 through Sunday March 12, during which they had responded to 11 calls for service involving youth.
Drugs and alcohol:
“The majority of these calls involved youth who were intoxicated by alcohol and/or drugs and were causing a disturbance in public by fighting, yelling and refusing to leave businesses mainly in and around West Shore Town Centre,” says West Shore RCMP.
West Shore Town Centre covers a wide patch of commercial area between Jacklin Road, Kelly Road, Langford Parkway and Veterans Memorial Parkway including other retail, a gas station, and several boulevard areas.
Multiple officers responded:
Two calls for service evidently required a multiple police officer response, including:
- On March 12 at approximately 3:20 p.m. West Shore RCMP received multiple calls from patrons at Starlight Stadium located at 3022 Glen Lake Road in Langford. The stadium was hosting a soccer tournament for youth ages 13 to 17 when an intoxicated 15-year-old boy began swinging punches at the spectators in the stadium. The same youth suspect then jumped over the fence and onto the players field where he punched an adult who was restraining him and tried to punch several players on the field. The youth suspect was held down by spectators while police rushed to the scene. He was were arrested and it was discovered he was also a suspect in theft of liquor bottles from a nearby liquor store earlier the same day. The youth suspect was held in custody and is being brought before court today facing charges of assault, theft under $5,000 and breach of conditions as he was bound by a court order with conditions to not consume alcohol.
- On March 10 at approximately 8:40 p.m. police responded to a noise complaint of a loud party on Burlington Crescent in Langford. When officers arrived, they spoke with a 20-year-old female who lived in the home and advised the party they were hosting had gotten out of control and requested police to assist them in evicting party goers. Approximately 60 to 80 youth left the home after police intervened. The homeowners were not present at the time. Police likely arrived and broke this party up before any serious harm came out of it. The host was given a strong warning and advised of the potential of charges had the party ended differently. Last week the West Shore RCMP responded to eight calls for service regarding at-risk youth.
RCMP files # 2023-4744 and 2023-4648