VPD issue over $4,600 in COVID-19 fines after multiple weekend parties

Another weekend in Vancouver meant another round of COVID-19 fines to those hosting and/or attending parties, police said on Monday.

In total, VPD said pandemic-related tickets were issued in four different instances between Friday and Saturday evening.

On Friday night, police were called by a concerned parent who said her young teenage daughter and other young females were at a party downtown with adults where she suspected there was drug use. Police responded to a condo building and found 16 people at a party in one unit. The party was dispersed and a $2,300 violation ticket was issued to the primary resident of the unit. The teenage girls were released to a guardian.

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On Saturday evening, while on an unrelated call, two police officers encountered a broken-down limousine on Stanley Park Drive. Officers determined that a group of six friends were gathered for a night out. Only two of the six were roommates – the rest lived separately. In addition, the driver did not have the appropriate driver’s licence or permit to operate a limo. He was issued a $2,300 ticket.

Later that evening, officers responded to two additional house parties in two different condo buildings downtown. At one party, there were eight to 10 people in attendance. At the other, there were 15. The first was a birthday party – all attendees were apologetic and remorseful, but the owner was issued a $230 ticket. At the second, larger party, officers were met with highly intoxicated, hostile individuals. The owner of that unit was issued a $2,300 violation ticket.

Multiple overdoses at single event

Police also responded to a gathering on Friday night where seven people aged 25 to 42 had overdosed while consuming cocaine and MDMA at an apartment in the West End just after midnight on Saturday.

The police department does not usually attend overdose calls, but BC Ambulance requested their help due to the large number of casualties reported, Constable Jason Doucette said in a press release.

Paramedics received a call about multiple overdoses at an apartment on Jervis Street near Davie Street and notified police around 12:20am Saturday morning.

According to VPD, first responders found at least five people in serious medical distress, as well as others outside the apartment requiring medical assistance. Multiple doses of naloxone were administered by both paramedics and VPD officers.