VANCOUVER Police are investigating 60 assaults over the Family Day long weekend with 22 cases being investigated as possible stranger assaults.
The VPD said in a series of tweets that on Friday afternoon, a woman entered a grocery store on Richards that she had previously been banned from. When asked to leave by the manager she threw a flower pot at him. She left, but later returned and threatened to pepper spray him. She was located and charged by the VPD.
On Friday night, the concierge of a downtown residential building on Seymour approached a food delivery driver who had entered the lobby without wearing a mask. The concierge was punched in the face after asking the man to put on a mask or wait outside to make his delivery.
Early Saturday morning, two men had a verbal argument near Smithe and Granville streets. It escalated into a fistfight that ended with one man stabbed multiple times by the other. The victim was rushed to hospital and the second man was arrested and taken to jail.
On Saturday morning, two men followed a man as he exited a transit bus near Victoria and East 39th in southeast Vancouver. The men then assaulted him, causing injuries to his face and head. Police were contacted and investigated the incident.
Also on Saturday morning, an unconscious man was found by a passerby in a laneway near Davie Street. He had been beaten and robbed of his backpack and money by an unknown person. He was transported to hospital for his injuries. The file is being investigated.
On Saturday night, a staff member of a West Hastings Street hotel asked an unruly guest to leave, who responded by punching him in the face, and then became confrontational with others in the lobby. He resisted arrest, but was quickly taken into custody and charged with assault.
Vancouver Police said that in all these incidents, witnesses or victims called police. If you witness an assault, or if you or someone you know is a victim, call 911.