TWO men have now both been arrested and criminally charged following an investigation by Surrey Police Service (SPS) following two alleged mischief incidents to a crosswalk in Surrey’s City Central neighbourhood on May 30 and June 27.
On May 30 at approximately 3:48 p.m., SPS frontline officers responded to reports of a mischief to a 2SLGBTQ+ crosswalk at the intersection of Old Yale Road and University Drive. The mischief allegedly occurred during a protest. Officers arrived on scene and located a rainbow-coloured pride crosswalk that had been spray painted. Three men were identified as suspects.
SPS Frontline members took lead of the investigation and, with the assistance of SPS’s Major Crime Section and SPS’s Hate Crime Coordinator, the May 30 investigation initially resulted in one man, Amrit Birring, being arrested and released on an undertaking with numerous conditions.
On June 26, the BC Prosecution Service approved Criminal Code charges against two men, Amrit Birring, a 58-year-old-male, and Errol Povah, a 67-year-old-male. Both were charged with one count each of mischief over $5,000. Birring subsequently turned himself in at SPS headquarters. He was arrested and released on an undertaking with conditions pending his upcoming court date. Povah was arrested on July 3 in Vancouver and was released from police custody with conditions.
On June 27 at approximately 11:30 a.m., the same crosswalk was again allegedly defaced. A second count of mischief over $5,000 was approved against Povah on July 3.
Anyone with information about these incidents should contact SPS’s non-emergency line at 604-599-0502 and quote file numbers 26-54029 (SP) or 26-65989 (SP).
