One North Vancouver teen started his grad year in the hospital, after a booze-fuelled fight went wrong at one of North Van’s infamous Labour Day park parties.
A group of about 10 teenagers had gathered in the yard of their local high school late Monday night when two of the boys got into a fight. “A youth got knocked down and hit his head on a rock” and was bleeding profusely, said Cpl. Richard De Jong, spokesman for the North Vancouver RCMP.
Police were called out around 1 a.m. and the 17-year-old was taken to Lions Gate Hospital where he required stitches.
Police in North Vancouver were also called out to a large gathering of about 30 teens who were drinking on a public property on Hamilton Avenue around midnight Monday night. “There was a lot of open liquor that was all poured out,” said de Jong. Marijuana was also seized from one teen who was later released into the custody of his mother.
Police believe both gatherings were likely related to a recent tradition among teens who meet in parks, at high schools or in the bush to hold alcohol-fuelled parties on Labour Day, before the first day of school. De Jong said a warning message to parents and teens from police last week that they intended to shut down such events may
have helped keep a relative lid on the unsanctioned festivities.
The rain later in the evening may also have put a damper on the teens’ celebratory mood, said De Jong.
