A BC man has been found guilty of sexual assault stemming from an attack in Metro Vancouver in early 2022. North Vancouver RCMP say Mission resident Jairus-Paul Sacramento is to be sentenced in court at a later date. Police say the alleged attack happened on February 13th, 2022, at North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley trail, and a tip from the public led to Sacramento’s arrest later in Abbotsford. Police say they are grateful for the public’s help in resolving the case, since it “impacted the community’s sense of safety.”
Four people have been found dead in a Prince Rupert, BC, home, leading to police launching a homicide investigation. Prince Rupert RCMP say in a media release that officers responded to a call to the 100 block of Silversides Drive on Tuesday evening. Police say they do not believe there is a risk to the public, nor is there an outstanding suspect in the case. The investigation is ongoing, and police say no individual names of the deceased will be released at this time.
A man is suing a fast-food restaurant in BC after allegedly finding a metal bolt in his meal. Court documents say carpenter Roman Chromy was eating at a New Westminster McDonald’s where he bought the allegedly contaminated food. Chromy says in the lawsuit that he suffered injury to his teeth and jaw and it lead to indigestion, food phobia and weight loss, among other symptoms. The allegations made in the lawsuit has not been proven in court.
Two BC groups are calling on the Canadian government to accelerate plans to move away from open-net salmon farms, after one company linked to a local facility was found to have already invested in a land-based farm in Japan. The 120-member BC First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance and non-profit conservation group Wild First say Canada needs to do better in protecting wild salmon by moving toward land-based farms. Wild First founder Tony Allard says the land-based farm in a paved lot near Tokyo having the investment of a global firm that is also linked to open-net farms in BC shows that other countries are already moving away from the latter practice. Federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said earlier this month that she plans to extend a consultation period for a transition plan to shift away from open-net salmon farms in BC by 2025.
Australian police say more arrests are expected in what it describes as a “global crime syndicate’s attempt” to traffic 1.5-billion dollars of methamphetamine from countries such as Canada. The Canadian Border Services Agency says it confiscated more than six-thousand-300 kilograms of methamphetamine in B-C over the last six months, including the largest ever single seizure in January. In a separate joint statement by Canadian and Australian authorities, police say five Australians and one American have been arrested and charged in relation to the case _ with two individuals facing a maximum penalty of life in prison. The CBSA says the drugs they found were discovered in four Metro Vancouver seizures in jugs labelled as canola oil bound for Australia as export.
Firefighters say two apartment buildings on Vancouver Island were evacuated after a collapse at a nearby construction site compromised their safety. Esquimalt Fire and Rescue officials say the support structure at an excavation site on 664 Admirals Road failed Tuesday morning, and the developer called in the collapse to the authorities. The collapse of the support led to the movement of a “significant” amount of earth, swallowing one vehicle in a hole while leaving another stuck on a slope towards the site. Firefighters say one apartment building has since been reoccupied, but 20 residents in the second building remain evacuated as engineers assess structural integrity.