Party host handed $2,300 COVID-19-related fine after guests became 'belligerent': West Vancouver police
Host at business where party took place fined under COVID-19 Related Measures Act
A man was slapped with a $2,300 fine for hosting a party at the business in West Vancouver where he works, after several people he described as clients became aggressive and threatening to officers late last Friday, police say.
Const. Kevin Goodmurphy said officers were called to the 1400-block of Clyde Avenue just after 11 p.m. PT on Jan. 8, after someone reported hearing a loud party coming from an unnamed business.
Goodmurphy said the host, 40, was not co-operative with police and refused to ask the guests to leave, saying they were clients.
A short time later, the officers approached three of the partygoers who appeared to be intoxicated and were standing outside the business, Goodmurphy said.
When two of those three people were unco-operative and refused to let police look inside, officers decided to fine the host, Goodmurphy said.
"They actually became belligerent, started posturing physically at the officers," he said.
Goodmurphy confirmed the party host works at the business, and he was fined under the COVID-19 Related Measures Act for hosting an unlawful gathering contrary to provincial health orders.
"This seems to be a situation where the attendees thought because they were in business together, that they were not subject to the restrictions," said Goodmurphy.
West Vancouver police says it has issued eight tickets under the COVID Related Measures Act and 10 tickets under the Quarantine Act since the beginning of March last year.