Two separate instances within a week of each other saw three Vancouver security guards and a handful of bystanders hit with bear spray.
According to reports from Vancouver Crime Stories, the most recent incident happened the evening of Wednesday, April 21 when a security guard approached a man and asked him to leave private property downtown. The man became aggressive and allegedly sprayed the guard in the face with bear spray, then attempted to hit him several times as he called 9-1-1. Three other people were also hit by the spray.
The security guard followed the suspect from a safe distance until police arrived. Officers arrested the man for assault with a weapon and he was taken to jail. The bear spray was seized.
Hello, bear spray is legal in B.C. If you are carrying it in the mountains that would make sense. If you are carrying it while dining in a restaurant, that does not make sense.
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) August 31, 2020
A similar altercation took place early last week at a downtown liquor store. Two guards were allegedly bear sprayed once while trying to apprehend a man stealing from the store and a second time when the guards followed the man out of the store. During the second spray a bystander was also hit.
Last summer Howard Chow with the Vancouver Police Department tweeted that four pepper spray incidents were reported in one day.
“We're averaging about 6 calls a day this year; they're often used as weapons during assaults or robberies. #NoBearsAround #stillaweapon,” the tweet read. In the same thread the official Vancouver Police Twitter account responded to a question about bear spray.
“Bear spray is legal in B.C. If you are carrying it in the mountains that would make sense. If you are carrying it while dining in a restaurant, that does not make sense.”
