Shortly before 12:30 yesterday afternoon, a man purchased an undisclosed amount of jewellery from a store on East Broadway. He left the store and was walking north on Quebec Street from Broadway when an unknown man came up behind him, grabbed the bag of jewellery, and ran to a waiting car.

The victim held on to the robber and was subsequently dragged by the car for approximately one block, until he could no longer hold on.

The man was found by paramedics on the side of the road in the 100 block of East 4th Avenue a short time later, and police were notified immediately.

The victim, a 61 year old man from North Vancouver, sustained minor injuries. He was treated at the scene and taken to hospital as a precaution.

The suspect has not been identified and the investigation is on-going.

The suspect and vehicle description are not being released at this time due to investigative reasons.

Starting at 6:00 on Friday morning, Constable Astrid Bonter started a gruelling 13-hour journey to climb the Grouse Grind as many times as possible during regular park hours. By 7:00 p.m., Astrid had completed her 11th ascent of Grouse Mountain to the cheering and support of on-looking family and friends.

Astrid will also be taking part in this year’s Cops for Cancer to bring community awareness to the devastating impact that cancer has on the lives of a children and their families.

“This challenge was done to raise money for Cops for Cancer and ultimately to support the fight against childhood cancer,” says Constable Bonter. “Cancer is a disease. It is powerful but certainly not more powerful than the human spirit.”

Donations made to the Canadian Cancer Society through Cops for Cancer are used to fund life-saving research and provide care and support to improve the quality of life for children and families battling the disease.

Endorsed by the BC Association of Chiefs of Police and supported by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton, the Gun Amnesty is aiming to make the province safer. Anton stressed the importance of taking unlicensed and unwanted guns out of our homes and off our streets:

“This amnesty gives citizens the opportunity to partner with police to help keep our community safe,” said Minister Anton earlier today. “I urge you to call your local police during the amnesty this month and ask them to collect your unwanted firearms and ammunition.”

In the first 17 days of the month-long gun amnesty, the Vancouver Police Department has received 21 calls for service, resulting in the following weapons being turned in for safe disposal:

• 22 rifles
• 6 handguns
• 4 shotguns
• 5 replicas/pellet guns
• 686 individual rounds of ammunition (approximately)

With just under two weeks remaining until the end of June, the Vancouver Police are renewing their appeal to citizens to turn in unwanted weapons, as police believe there are many more weapons out there.

If you have weapons that you would like to surrender, call the Vancouver Police Department at (604) 717-3321 and an officer will come to your house to pick up the firearm and any ammunition.

For safety reasons, when the officer arrives, do not come to your door with the firearm in hand. Also, do not drop items off at the police department.

“Let’s all do our part to make our homes, our streets and our communities safer,” said Constable Sandra Glendinning, media spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department

For more information on the BC Gun Amnesty, visit this website.

Shortly after 5:00 p.m. on June 15th, police were requested by Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services to attend a house fire in the 900 block of East 63rd Avenue that had resulted in the death of one person.

Investigators from the Vancouver Police Major Crime Section and the Forensic Identification Unit remained at the house throughout the evening examining the crime scene.

Detectives have now determined that the fire appears to have been deliberately set and that the death of the person found inside the house is being treated as suspicious.

The age, gender and race of the victim will be determined early this week following an autopsy by the BC Coroners Service.

Anyone with information about this fire is asked to contact the Vancouver Police Major Crime Section at (604) 717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.

Around 9:00 a.m., a charter bus was parked on Ross Street at 63rd Avenue loading passengers when it began to roll backwards down the hill. An 80 year old woman boarding the bus fell out when it began to move.

The woman sustained what was thought to be minor injuries at the time of the incident.

An ambulance was called and paramedics attended to the her injuries at the scene. They were taking her to hospital for treatment, but she tragically died on the way to the hospital.

Three other people sustained minor injuries as a result of the incident.

The Vancouver Police Collision Investigation Unit is on scene conducting their investigation and will likely be there for the rest of the afternoon.

The driver of the charter bus is cooperating with investigators.

The name of the deceased is not being released.

Here’s an opportunity to meet members of the VPD Beach Bike Patrol, VPD Marine Squad, VPD Mounted Squad, VPD Recruiting, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, Ambulance Paramedics of BC, and more.

Community Policing Volunteers from Granville and West End/Coal Harbour will also be there running a bike engraving program, Child Find, a mini-POPAT for kids, and a pedal bike course for kids.

Date:         Saturday, June 15th, 2013
Time:        11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location:  Ceperley Field, Stanley Park (south of the Second Beach Pool/concession stand)                            

For more information on Community Beach Safety Day, click here.

The last round of charges delivered to Crown on April 19th, 2013, consisted of 34 additional criminal charges recommended against 10 more rioters.

In total, police have recommended 1086 charges against 325 rioters.

The Integrated Riot Investigation Team is expecting to deliver an additional 25 charges to Crown in the coming months for a total of 350 rioters with recommended charges.

In the past year, we have been able to identify seven of the top ten rioters posted on our website in June of 2012. We would like to encourage citizens again to go to our website and help us find remaining unidentified rioters. You will also find updates on the investigation, as they become available.

IRIT investigators continue to monitor charged and/or convicted rioters for their alleged involvement in the Stanley Cup Riot. Twenty-five suspected rioters have been charged with 43 counts of breach.

“It is disappointing to see that some alleged and convicted rioters have made legally binding promises in exchange for lighter sentences and they have chosen to ignore those promises by breaching their release conditions,” says Sergeant Randy Fincham, spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department.

Around midnight, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and police responded to a suspicious fire, believed to have been deliberately set in a garbage bin, in the 400 block of Granville Street.

This was the first of several fires set in the area, including the following:

• a bench in the 500 Granville Street, as well as a garbage bin
• a garbage bin at the corner of Granville and Georgia Street
• outside the Hudson’s Bay in an alcove (extinguished by Transit Police)
• two more garbage bins in the mid-block 700 Granville Street
• at 12:30 a.m., Vancouver Police were called by security at the BC Hydro Building in the 300 block of Dunsmuir Street after they found three fires in garbage bins outside their building
• at 1:30 a.m., police responded to Smithe and Granville Street for a fire in parking stall behind Ceili’s Irish Pub
• a waste paper basket in a men’s washroom at the Holiday Inn at 1110 Howe Street morning.

Police began collecting and reviewing video from nearby businesses. The image of a person of interest was found on surveillance video and was shared with other officers.  

Shortly after 1:30 this morning, a male person-of-intest in the Hudson’s Bay fire was arrested at Robson and Seymour Street.

Arson investigators are now conducting investigations into the remaining fires to see if they are linked to the fire at Hudson’s Bay.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call Vancouver Police Major Crime Section, Arson Unit at (604) 717-2541 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.

Police Foundation Brochure

The public will soon be seeing a new vehicle rolling through the streets of Vancouver following this afternoon’s launch of the Vancouver Police Department’s new Mobile Command Centre. The Command Centre will become the flagship vehicle for the Department and will be used at crime scenes, emergency response incidents and public events.

“Today we are announcing a major step forward for the Vancouver Police Department,” says Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu. “When we measure the progress of the Department as it matures and becomes more sophisticated and better equipped to handle modern policing challenges, we will look with appreciation to our partners in the community and all they have done to help us achieve our goals.”

The purchase of the Mobile Command Centre was made possible through a generous $500,000 Vancouver Police Foundation Grant and the support of the Vancouver Police Board and the City of Vancouver.

“The Vancouver Police Foundation is proud to have cooperated with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Board in the purchase of this essential, state-of-art Mobile Command Centre,” says Peter Brown, Chair of the Vancouver Police Foundation. “This highly-visible vehicle will contribute to the capability and efficiency of our dedicated police force in pursuing their goal to make Vancouver Canada’s safest major city.”

At today’s event, the Vancouver Police Foundation also announced $293,908 in further funding to support ongoing and future community policing projects. To date, the Vancouver Police Foundation has given out over $2.5 million dollars in Vancouver Police Foundation Grants in support of these policing initiatives.

For information on the VPD Mobile Command Centre, please view this brochure.

For further information about the Vancouver Police Foundation and the programs they support, please visit their website.

Shortly before 3:00 a.m., Vancouver Police were called to the 1000 block Kingsway near Glen Drive. When officers arrived, they discovered a man suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The victim’s identity has not yet been confirmed.

It is still very early in the investigation and anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Vancouver Police Major Crime Robbery/Assault Unit at (604) 717-2541.