She had barely put on her gardening gloves when Renfrew Road resident Jackie Powell saw something she’d never seen.
“Two boys took a whiz right on the street between parked cars,” she said.
The youth were part of a crowd of 150 that started gathering around noon at a nearby rented house on St. Patrick’s Day. Powell watched as both men and women, some carrying open liquor, urinated in neighbours’ yards and in the street. But she hesitated before calling police.
“I asked myself, ‘Am I being unreasonable? After all they’re just students and they haven’t had a big party in a long time.’ But then I thought, ‘No, this isn’t appropriate, this is really wrong.’”
Two Oak Bay police officers did arrive, but it took five hours to break up the gathering. Police were also dealing at the time with other parties in the 2700-block of Cadboro Bay Rd. and on Henderson Road.
Many liquor act tickets were issued and the Renfrew Road renter was warned of a $100 fine for the “all but out of control” party, a police news release stated.
Daytime parties are a rarity in Oak Bay, Oak Bay Police deputy chief Kent Thom said, but attributed them to St Patrick’s Day falling on a sunny Saturday.
“It seemed like the party mood was starting much earlier in the day than normal in other locations as well,” he said, noting large groups of youth were also roaming about in downtown Victoria.
Powell has written a letter to Oak Bay council asking fines be increased to $5,000 from $100 for homeowners whose renters have raucous parties.
