VANCOUVER (AP) ― In what is called the largest crime spree in Vancouver history, police recommend that 60 people be charged with everything from assault to breaking and entering after the downtown Stanley Cup riot last June.
Police Chief Jim Chu said Monday a forensic video database was used to analyze characteristics of suspects. They asked the Crown to approve 163 charges against 60 people.
The June 15 riot put police under pressure to recommend charges quickly after thousands of people lit fires, burned cars and looted stores following the Vancouver Canucks’ loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.
“It became, by many measures, the largest crime spree in the history of B.C.,” Chu said at a news conference.
The recommendations have been forwarded to British Columbia prosecutors, who will determine if the charges go forward. Names of suspected rioters were not released.
Chu said officers needed the last four months to investigate.
“In the minds of many, today has been a long time coming and I share those frustrations,” Chu said. “I wish there could have been a quicker and simpler way to bring the rioters before the courts.”
