Surrey Mounties arrested three minors after a mob attacked police officers who were on an unrelated call near 70th Avenue and 134th Street in Newton on Monday.
This happened at about 5:30 p.m. A video circulated on social media showed the swarming. Police cars were kicked and one boy yanked on a side mirror of one of the cars.
The identities of youths ages 12 to 17 who are alleged to have committed crimes are shielded by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. For this reason, the Now-Leader has decided not to publish the video.
“This is still being investigated,” Corporal Elenore Sturko said. “It would be too early for me to comment whether or not any charges will come as a result of the investigation.”
Sturko said three youths “about 15 years old” were arrested – one for obstructing police, one for assault and another for mischief.
“We were actually responding to a call not related to these individuals,” she said. “We received a call from a concerned resident who said that they thought there was a child unattended so we were actually going there to make sure the little kid was safe.”
But when they arrived, she said, a group of between 10 and 15 youths and some adults surrounded the police. She said people were shouting obscenities, uttering threats, and throwing things at the police cars.
“They kicked the side of the patrol car, dented the hood,” she said.
Sturko alleged a youth threw something at an officer’s head, striking him.
“He’s okay. All the officers only received fairly minor injuries. Only two were assaulted.”
She said police are still trying to figure out what precipitated the attack.
“I don’t want to speculate on what their motivations were.”
Surrey RCMP Corporal Elenore Sturko. (File photo: Tom Zytaruk)
The police called for backup, Sturko said, “to help them manage the crowd better.”
“The activity and the damage to vehicles was undertaken primarily by youth,” Sturko said, adding some of the adults present told the attackers to stop.
“There were some adults trying to intervene,” she said. “In fact, in some of the videos that we have received from witnesses you actually can hear adults telling the kids to stop.”
READ ALSO: Surrey Mounties seize shotgun, ammo, after officers shot at with BB gun in Newton
In June, Surrey Mounties seized a shotgun and ammo from a Newton residence after officers came under BB gun fire.
Corporal Joanie Sidhu said shortly after 4:30 a.m, on June 26, Surrey RCMP officers on foot patrol in the 6400-block of King George Boulevard “came under fire from what was determined to be a BB gun.”
“The officers were not injured. They were able to take a position of cover and called additional back-up to contain the area and assist in the investigation,” she said.
Sturko said it’s “not new” for police “to have these types of things happen” to them.
“I think that we see them more widely now, and they are more widely publicized because of some of the current events that are happening today.”
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