Times
Cool in the Pool
The Langley
page 40
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J u l y
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Heroic Effort page 14
www. l a n g l e y t i m e s . com
Legal grow-op likely target of home invasion MONIQUE TAMMINGA Times Reporter
A 32-year-old Langley man remains behind bars following a violent home invasion on Thursday, June 27. The victimized woman will soon be without a home. Around 1 p.m., Langley RCMP responded to a 911 call from a 56-year-old woman who had been attacked, tied up and put in a room by several men who broke into her home in the 24900 block of 72 Avenue. Officers arrived to find two vehicles were parked in the driveway with the doors open, said Cpl. Holly Marks. Officers found the sliding door to the residence had been broken open. One of the responding officers saw a man wearing a black hoodie and a bandana covering his face. Upon seeing the officer, he ran back into the house. With her hands still tied, the victim then came out of her home, telling police three or four men were inside, two with their faces covered. Some had weapons. She told police that when they entered her house, one of them hit her and tied her hands behind her back. She was placed in a room alone and could hear the men scrambling through the house, said Marks. Langley RCMP quickly called in the Emergency Response Team to help. By then, the suspects had fled the house, said police. Air One took to the skies and officers spotted a man running down the train tracks near the property. ERT arrested him a short time later. continued, PAGE 6
Dan FERGUSON/Langley Times
Families were peacefully enjoying the McLeod Park Canada Day celebration on Monday. But once darkness fell, drunken rowdies got into a brawl that saw Langley RCMP call in assistance from Surrey. More photos of local celebrations can be found on page 17 and online at langleytimes.com.
Canada Day party ends in brawl MONIQUE TAMMINGA Times Reporter
A drunken brawl involving around 100 people at McLeod Athletic Park disrupted what had been a hugely successful Langley Canada Day event on Monday evening. Police and other emergency officials were called in as about 100 young people, many of whom were drunk, became involved in a series of altercations just before the fireworks were set to go off. Those in attendance were wondering what the problem was, and some people left early because of the difficulties. The fireworks display that ends Canada Day was set off, but was delayed because of the brawl and subsequent police action. Langley RCMP called Surrey RCMP in for backup, due to the number of people involved. Officers arrived to find several individuals already handcuffed, however there was still a fair number of individuals yelling, swearing and fighting, said Langley RCMP Cpl.
Holly Marks. “Officers were jumping from one fight to another,” said Marks. Several intoxicated people were put in cells at the Langley detachment and spent the night sobering up. Most of these individuals were known to police, said Marks. Some of the involved combatants sustained minor injuries, however given the number of people involved, nobody was badly hurt. Other Holly than a set of broken Marks glasses, no officers were injured during the fracas, said Marks. However, she said police don’t anticipate laying any charges from the melee. It was too difficult with the large number of people involved. There is no beer garden at the festivities and organizers had security at the two
GIA CERTIFIED
gates from opening until closing, checking people’s bags and confiscating liquor if there was any. The celebration was fenced off on all sides for added security. Marks said police aren’t aware of how these brawlers arrived, or whether they attended already drunk or snuck alcohol in. She didn’t have reports of whether police were dumping out or confiscating alcohol. She said Langley RCMP had a command unit set up inside the festivities all day as well as auxiliary police and general duty officers working there. Langley’s Supt. Derek Cooke attended the celebration with his family but quickly became involved as an officer and assisted the uniformed police with arrests. “A number of families left in advance of the fireworks to avoid the situation. It’s unfortunate that there are a number of youth whose behaviour spoiled what should be a family event.”
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