Youth arrested, crowd ‘unruly’ at illegal street racing in Langley

The RCMP says it has arrested a youth after an incident involving illegal street racing and stunting in Langley on Friday.

Police were called to the area near Gloucester Way around 11 p.m. after a complaint of a motor vehicle incident. On the scene, an officer found around 200 youths taking part in the illegal event.

“The officer issued several traffic violation tickets and was in the process of having a vehicle towed when the crowd became unruly,” the Langley RCMP said in a news release.

After the officer called for backup, police say another 16-year-old male stepped in.

“Despite multiple instructions to stand down, the 16-year-old rushed at police and they were forced to deploy a conducted energy weapon,” the RCMP said.

A few bystanders stepped in and police then used pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

The youth was then arrested and put into a police vehicle.

“However, a short time later, some members of the crowd managed to release the suspect from the police vehicle,” police said.

“But the suspect didn’t get far after the Integrated Police Dog Service (IPDS) arrived, locating him after a short dog track.”

The youth is facing several charges, including assaulting a police officer.

‘Deeply troubling’

Supt. Harm Dosange says the behaviour seen at the illegal street racing incident is “deeply troubling.”

“Not only is this incident extremely concerning from a public safety perspective, but the fact that these youth believed it was okay to obstruct police officers in the lawful execution of their
duties is unacceptable,” Dosange said.

“Street racers put the public and police at significant risk.”

Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call the RCMP at 604-532-3252.

We have reached out to the Langley RCMP for more information.