By Surbhi Gogia
Strawberry Hill plaza, a place that once boasted of being a cherished plaza by many Surrey families featuring different shops, cineplex and restaurants has now become a hotspot of confrontations, arguments and altercations.
A recent brawl between a bunch of youth and a police officer at the Strawberry Hill Plaza located at 72nd avenue and Scott Road, has again hit the nerve of the Surrey community. This week, a video of the incident started circulating on social media where an RCMP officer is seen refusing to give his badge number and then seen leaving in his vehicle. The use of extreme foul language by those arguing with the officer can be heard loud and clear in the video. Then some people from the group are seen obstructing the police vehicle when it was leaving the area.
The identity of those involved in the incident with the officer is yet to be determined while the investigations are on but Constable Sarbjit Sangha, Surrey RCMP Media Relations, said, “I cannot speak for every single person depicted in that video, but the person that our officer dealt with was an international student.”
Constable Sangha has some strong message for those involved in the incident. She said, “Surrey RCMP is aware of the video circulating on social media, which shows a group of young men surrounding a police vehicle in the Strawberry Hill complex on Sunday September 11, 2022.”
According to her, the officer in the video was responding to a complaint received from on-site security that a vehicle with an extremely loud and disruptive exhaust system had been unnecessarily driving around the parking lot and causing a disturbance for the preceding three hours.
While talking to the Link newspaper, Constable Sangha, said, “The officer conducted a traffic stop of that vehicle in the parking area, when inspected he noticed that there were changes made to the muffler of this vehicle and found a device that would make louder sounds.”
One person was served a ticket, as well as a notice and order for a vehicle inspection. “Our officer issued a violation ticket to the owner of the vehicle as well as notice in order that the deficiency in the vehicle needed to be fixed with in 30 days and they were supposed to take the vehicle to an authorized place to make the deficiencies correct. A police officer would inspect the vehicle after changes and the box too should be removed from the vehicle.”
Sangha informed that while this interaction was going on between the officer and the driver, “there were other people in the area that joined the driver and became uncooperative with our police officer.”
“It came to a point that our officer did not feel safe at the position he was in, he got into his vehicle and decided to leave. Our officer had his lights and signs activated as he was trying to leave the area. The behaviour of the group escalated as the officer re-entered his police vehicle and attempted to leave. Persons involved blocked the police vehicle, attempted to open the driver’s door and could be heard swearing and name calling while filming the incident.”
Sangha said that the officer did not know what the situation had escalated into, “if he had not left the area.”
It is not the first time the Strawberry Hill complex has become a hotpot of violent incidents or nuisance created by a bunch of youth. When asked if the police have been receiving frequent complaints, she said, “Surrey RCMP continues to work closely with the complex owners and on-site security to address ongoing nuisance behaviours which have caused residents, businesses and families in our community to express that they feel unsafe attending the location. Some of the ongoing concerns expressed include large gatherings, fights, vehicle stunting and other nuisance behaviour.”
Everyone has the right to feel safe going anywhere in our city, especially a large business complex with a movie theater that caters to families. Surrey RCMP will continue with enforcement efforts to curb nuisance behaviour in that complex, she added.
Her message to those involved in the incident and also who are part of the problem is clear, “Canada has laws, and regulations for a reason so we can all enjoy the common properties in peace. No one has the right to disobey the law and if you disobey the laws, there are consequences. By doing the burn outs and the loud vehicles you are disturbing people around you.”
