Some off-duty and retired North Vancouver RCMP members gave up their weekends to mend a fence they say was wrecked by Deep Cove teens engaging in “fence bowling.”
The area has seen a spate of mischief since the weather began to warm up and a disproportionate amount of it has been targeted at the Strathcona Road home of two seniors, according to Sgt. Warren Wilson, North Vancouver RCMP response officer.
“(They) were being plagued by late-night incidents, mostly to do with youth coming from parties in the Deep Cove area, hammering the fence that the neighbours had surrounding their property,” Wilson said.
In one case, they uprooted one of the District of North Vancouver’s “share the road” signs – no small feat as they’re anchored underground with a concrete ball – and used it as a battering ram to take out more sections of the fence. Making matters worse, they returned to the scene of the crime the next night, Wilson said.
“They were seen taking selfies of themselves in front of the destruction they had wrought,” he said.
Unfortunately, police didn’t have any patrol vehicles in Deep Cove at the time and other units were already tied up, so Wilson sought out a way to make something good come of the senseless destruction.
“Maybe we didn’t catch the bad guys but maybe the police can help out somehow and so I marshalled a few resources,” he said.
Over the next three weekends, a group of retired and off-duty officers led by retired inspector and amateur carpenter Mike Arnold, as well as neighbours, reset the posts and rails and hammered in the replacement fence boards.
Wilson estimated it would have cost the couple at least a couple thousand dollars to have it professionally replaced – but they all managed to have some fun in process.
“(The neighbour) brought out donuts because he heard cops like donuts,” Wilson said.
Homeowner Tony D’Eon said he and his wife were grateful for the response.
“I appreciate the help they gave us, definitely. I realize it’s very difficult for them to solve these things. They happen in the middle of the night and it’s becoming very annoying,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. … Who are the parents who let their kids out at 2 a.m.?”
In the meantime, anyone with information about what Warren describes as “a bunch of ne’er-do-wells out there wreaking havoc, fueled by booze and engaged in all sorts of buffoonery” is asked to call North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311.
