While it has not received the negative attention the Langley City bus loop has in the past few years, the new Carvolth exchange and park and ride lot is under the microscope of both Langley RCMP and TransLink Police.
Several recent incidents have drawn plenty of police attention. One series of events involved the thefts of catalytic converters from vehicles parked in the lot, and the second was an assault in the early evening hours of Nov. 7. Arrests have been made in both cases.
At a meeting on safety issues on Wednesday, TransLink Police assistant chief Ed Eviston said his agency “was on the cusp of engaging in a joint forces operation related to property crimes at Carvolth,” when Langley RCMP swooped in on Nov. 5 and made an arrest.
Langley RCMP Supt. Murray Power said police had discussed the thefts one morning, gathering all the information available, and were able to make an arrest that afternoon. He said the person charged, a 48-year-old Surrey man, was in the midst of taking a catalytic converter off an exhaust system when he was arrested.
In the stabbing incident, Langley RCMP arrested two people who had been hanging around the bus exchange. In this case, they asked the victim for money and then stabbed him when he didn’t give them what they considered a “sufficient sum.”
Charged are Amanda Visona, 29, and 26-year-old Justin White.
There are several abandoned houses near the transit exchange, as the area is being redeveloped. The two suspects had been tracked to one of those properties, but weren’t found at that time.
While driveway access has been cut off from the abandoned homes on 86 Avenue, numerous people have been breaking into the homes or sleeping in adjacent outbuildings.
Eviston said TransLink Security will be on hand at Carvolth Exchange, which opened two years ago, on a daily basis for the foreseeable future.
