Four teens who threatened seniors gathered in an Abbotsford park and yelled obscenities at them have been arrested and charged.
Const. Ian MacDonald said police were alerted to the circumstances at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, when they received a report that four young men had been driving around Goldfinch Park (located off Goldfinch Street in west Abbotsford), yelling at people in the park and throwing rocks at them.
MacDonald said the park is mostly used by senior South Asian men, who meet there to play cards and socialize.
He said the teens allegedly yelled at the seniors to get out of the park or they would be hurt or killed.
“(They yelled) completely rude, crude and threatening things,” MacDonald said.
Patrol officers stepped up enforcement near the park and spoke to park-goers who said they were scared that the young men would follow through on their threats.
Many of them said the suspects had been using some type of device to amplify their voices as they drove by.
MacDonald said police received further information that the harassment had begun on Wednesday and had continued on a daily basis.
On Saturday at 8 p.m., two officers stopped a blue Infiniti sedan with four young men near the park.
One of the passengers appeared to be raising a megaphone to his mouth just before the interaction with police, MacDonald said.
Based on descriptions and details provided by the witnesses and additional evidence, the four teens were arrested and have now been charged with uttering threats and causing a disturbance.
They are: Amarprit Singh Dhaliwal, 19, Gobind Denzil Singh Pangli, 19, and Suraj Narang, 18. A 17-year-old was also charged but cannot be named due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
MacDonald said police have had previous interactions with two of the suspects.
He said police are perplexed about what would motivate anyone to carry out such behaviour.
“It’s a head-scratcher … None of the four were taking the situation very seriously, even when they were arrested,” he said.
