1. Surrey RCMP say three people deported in connection to brawl caught on video
After a brawl in Newton was caught on video, Surrey RCMP said three people had been deported and the status of another three people was being reviewed.
The incident happened in August at a strip mall in Strawberry Hill. It was followed by a second video in November, which showed people running in the area of 70th Avenue and 128th Street hitting a vehicle with what appeared to be golf clubs.
Police said they had been “actively engaged” in the issue of youth fights in Newton since March.
2. Dash-cam captures suspected ‘keying’ of Tesla in South Surrey
In September, a man was caught on camera vandalizing Dannie Chang’s Tesla Model 3 in a South Surrey parking lot in the 2300-block of King George Boulevard.
Chang, who had only had the vehicle for three months at the time, reported the incident to police and posted dash-cam video to YouTube.
3. Judge annuls hairdresser’s forced marriage to boss’s relative
A Sikh woman, who says she was forced into a sham marriage with her boss’s relative, upon threat of being fired from her job as a hairdresser if she didn’t comply, won an annulment in B.C. Supreme Court.
4. Taxes go up on fuel, booze and cigarettes on April 1
It wasn’t an April Fool’s Joke.
On April 1, the carbon tax went to $35 from $30 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions, bringing the total carbon tax to about eight cents on a litre of fuel.
Alcoholic beverages were hit with a 1.5-per-cent increase in federal excise tax.
For smokers, an increase in federal tobacco tax and an inflation increase translated to 22.9 cents more per pack of 20. The B.C. government also added 56 cents to the price of a 20-pack.
5. Stabbing at Surrey banquet hall sends man to hospital
A concert at a Surrey banquet hall turned violent in February.
Surrey RCMP said they were called to Bollywood banquet hall in Newton after a fight broke out and a man was suffering from “multiple stab wounds.”
6. Cameras will ticket speeding drivers at seven Surrey intersections – even if light is green
In May, the provincial government announced it would be updating red-light cameras at seven Surrey intersections – 35 throughout the B.C. – that would ticket drivers speeding through red, yellow or green lights.
7. Suspect in Surrey transit cop shooting was jailed in 2011 for manslaughter
On Jan. 30, police were on the hunt for Daon Gordon Glasglow, who was the suspect in the shooting of a transit police officer that same day at Scott Road SkyTrain Station.
The five-day hunt ended Feb. 3 when Glasgow was arrested at a home in Burnaby.
8. High-risk sex offender released into Surrey
In May, Surrey RCMP issued a warning about dangerous sex offender Earon Wayne Giles being released from prison and that he would now be living in Surrey.
9. Video of rocking Surrey house party in 1990 ‘almost like you’re there,’ filmmaker says
Rick DeBanks’ video of a wild Surrey house party he attended 30 years ago was viewed more than 12,000 times on YouTube in its first week. The 33-minute clip shows a house full of rocking teens and young adults ringing in the new year at a residence in Newton, near 144th Street and Highway 10.
10. Surrey Chalo! FreshCo locations officially open
More than a year after the Newton and Strawberry Hill Safeway locations closed, Chalo! FreshCo opened up in the former Safeway stores.
Shoppers were coming in “droves” to the stores, which are geared “heavily” toward the South Asian community.
