One man is in custody and facing charges after allegedly assaulting construction workers with bear spray at Park Royal South Monday morning.
West Vancouver police were called to the Cineplex theatres’ temporary construction office just after 8:30 a.m. after an altercation broke out.
A man came into the office and claimed he was looking for work. But one of the construction workers in the office believed he recognized him from a theft last week when someone walked off the site with a set of keys and a pair of bolt cutters. Suspicious, he stepped outside to call police. While he was on the phone a fight broke out between the suspect and one of the other workers.
“By this point, the suspect had apparently pulled out a can of bear spray and sprayed the one guy, sprayed the second guy and then runs away,” said Const. Jeff Palmer, West Vancouver police spokesman.
At the scene, police helped treat the victims with cold water.
“I’ve been peripheral to (bear spray). I’ve never been directly sprayed. It’s very unpleasant,” Palmer said. “It causes instant tearing and pain in your eyes. It causes excess mucus production. It affects both your vision and your breathing and causes a fair bit of pain and discomfort.”
Police cross-referenced witness accounts from the two investigations and came up with a suspect, a 29-year-old West Vancouver man, who they arrested without incident on Kwum Kwum Road Monday afternoon.
He was kept in custody overnight and was due to make a court appearance Tuesday. Police are requesting the Crown lay one charge of assault with a weapon and one charge of breaching probation, although additional charges are possible, Palmer said.
