Vancouver man first in B.C. to be arrested for hosting parties in defiance of COVID-19 order: police

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A man in Vancouver who chose to keep holding parties despite the ban on social gatherings in B.C. might have been the first one in the province to be arrested for it.

Police had been called to the 24-year-old man’s downtown apartment at least a dozen times because of noise and party complaints, and officers had been there six times since November. He was also fined $2,300 twice in December.

But it was a loud party on Dec. 18 that brought yet another noise complaint and prompted police to get a warrant.

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With the holidays approaching, Sgt. Steve Addison said further action needed to be taken after multiple warnings and fines didn’t seem to stop the gatherings.

“It was clear to the officers who attended repeatedly, through this man’s words and this man’s actions, he simply didn’t care. He was going to continue having parties,” he said.

“Officers issued multiple warnings & issued tickets to this man over several wks, asking him to stop hosting parties during the pandemic,” says VPD Sgt Steve Addison. “He made clear he has no plans to stop, so our officers obtained an arrest warrant & he spent Christmas in jail.” https://t.co/Yt5A2PzfGF

— Denise (@DeniseTWong) December 30, 2020

The man was arrested on Christmas Day and charged under Section 99 of the Public Health Order for violating COVID-19 restrictions. 

Addison said, as far as he knows, this is the first time this has happened in B.C., noting it was an “unusual step.”

The man was released the following day on bail.

“With bail comes a number of conditions that we’re hoping will encourage him a little bit more to obey the public health order,” Addison said.

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Now the man has to open the door when he’s home and police knock, follow public health orders, and he is only allowed to have two people in his apartment at a time.

If the man doesn’t follow his conditions, he will be arrested, again.

Addison believes the police won’t have to visit the man again and reminds everyone else public health orders are to be taken seriously.

-with files from Monika Gul