Americans charged with mischief after traffic chaos on Lions Gate Bridge
After thousands of commuters were inconvenienced – with some missing work meetings, doctor visits and ferry sailings – the two Americans who caused traffic chaos on The Lions Gate Bridge on Thursday have been charged with mischief.
The pair, 23-year-old California resident Zachary Woodrow Burke, and 26-year-old Andrew Preston Valentine from Washington State, remain in police custody.
The reason for their traffic-halting trespass? A photo op, according to the VPD.
VPD Const. Jason Doucette said motorists crossing the Lions Gate Bridge around 8:30 am called 911, after a man with a large backpack and a headlamp was seen climbing over the railing and pulling himself up the guy-wires to a height of 50 to 70 feet above the bridge deck.
Unable to see the man from the bridge deck when they arrived, officers called in the team’s high-angle rescue specialists to search the enclosed pathways and the guy-wire systems on the bridge.
Eventually, the two men were found after they were seen scaling down the guy-wires back to the bridge deck.
They were taken into police custody and their camera equipment was seized.
The search for the trespassers caused chaos on the busy commuter route, with the centre lane closed to traffic and buses forced to re-route.
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