The officer called for backup and followed the man, who was heading toward Quadra Elementary. The man grabbed a broom handle and approached a woman who was pushing a stroller and walking with four children. He spat at the family, narrowly missing a child, and yelled racial slurs at them. When the off-duty officer approached him, he attacked and damaged the office’s car. Uniformed officers arrived and arrested the man moments later. Police are recommending charges of assault and mischief. The incident is being treated as a hate-motivated crime, police said. Although B.C. has seen a significant increase in hate-motivated crimes, police said they have not seen similar increases in Victoria and Esquimalt. The file remains under investigation.
VICTORIA Victoria police are investigating a bank robbery in the city’s downtown core. Investigators say the robbery happened just after 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when a man entered a bank in the 1000-block of Douglas Street and used a note to commit the crime. No one was injured in the incident, according to police. Investigators are asking the public to identify the man who was captured on surveillance video. The perpetrator is described as a white man, standing five feet, six inches tall. He was wearing a black hoodie, brown pants, red shoes, black-rimmed sunglasses and a blue medical mask.
VICTORIA Victoria police say a man was arrested at Beacon Hill Park on Saturday after he allegedly pulled a knife on a family. Police say they were called to the washroom and playground area of the park around 2 p.m. for reports of a man brandishing a knife toward another man. When officers arrived, police say they were told that the knife was pulled in the presence of a family, including a young child in a stroller. Police say the family told responding officers that they ran from the man and called police. No injuries occurred during the encounter, according to VicPD.