'Coming down to wreak havoc': Victoria police, business owners speak on surge in youth crimes
Victoria police and some local business owners aren't mincing words when it comes to a recent surge in crimes committed by youth in the downtown core.
Maurio Schelini owns the Tuscan Kitchen on View Street in downtown Victoria. He says he was bear sprayed in the face at his business by a 15-year-old.
"The fellow that left the store first just sprayed me in the face," Schelini told CTV News.
Two teenagers began acting obnoxiously in the store several weeks ago. Schelini asked them to leave, and then the alleged assault occurred just outside the shop.
"After that, I ran into the washroom and ran my face under water for two hours," said the business owner.
Maurio Schelini, owner of the Tuscan Kitchen in downtown Victoria, is pictured. (CTV News)
The police were called and later arrested the pair in Bastion Square.
"That’s when I saw two of [the knives] were missing," said Schelini.
He then realized the pair had stolen two knives from his store.
ORGANIZED GROUPS
The Victoria Police Department says it's seen a disturbing trend unfolding over the past three weeks.
"They are coming down to wreak havoc," said Bowen Osoko, spokesperson for VicPD.
Ringleaders are organizing groups through social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, police say.
Teens come downtown on public transit from outlining municipalities, bringing with them drugs, booze and weapons with one purpose in mind, according to Victoria police.
"What we’re seeing is lots of assaults, assaults with weapons, assaults targeting unhoused people," said Osoko.
To date, 25 major incidents are being investigated. This includes a group of 25 youths who reportedly attacked a 70-year-old man on Douglas Street.
A group of 14 youths also swarmed a police officer, trying to prevent their friend from being arrested, police say.
On May 6, a group of up to 150 youths marched up Government Street from Dallas Road, stomping overtop of vehicles and kicking off rear view mirrors, according to VicPD.
Residents who spoke to CTV News on Friday had mixed responses on the issue, with some saying they felt less safe in the downtown area recently, while others felt like there wasn't a significant change.
The Victoria Police Department is working with all police agencies in the region on these files. VicPD says this week the focus will be on breaking up these gatherings and to enforce the law.
"We’ll be seizing weapons, we’ll be making arrests, and where appropriate, we will be recommending charges," said Osoko.
Back at the Tuscan Kitchen, Schelini has proceeded with pressing charges against his attackers.
"I don’t regret pressing charges and I hope that’s the first and last time that these two kids will do what they did," said Schelini.
None of the charges have been tested in court.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.