VicPD have released a photo of a suspect believed to be responsible for smashing at least half a dozen windows in downtown Victoria.
In a media release, police say investigators were called to one report of a broken window downtown Victoria on Wednesday morning.
During the investigations, they soon realized there was a ‘window breaking spree’ which saw six businesses affected.
These latest instances of windows being smashed downtown comes on the heels of Adventure Clothing having their window smashed as well as Greater Victoria Public Library’s Central Branch having multiple windows broken in the span of a week.
Related:
- Owner says window smashed at downtown Victoria clothing store ‘part of a bigger problem’
- Victoria mural artist paints over smashed window covering for downtown retailer
- Downtown Victoria library has windows smashed multiple times in one week
Just after 6 a.m. on February 8th, police were called to the 1100-block of Government Street where a window was reported to be smashed at a restaurant.
Once there, officers noticed a window across the street was also smashed at a nearby pub. They spoke with staff and looked at surveillance footage and soon determined it was the same suspect who had broken both windows.
While investigating these two windows being smashed, a passerby informed the officers of a storefront window being broken around the corner at the intersection of Fort Street and Government Street.
Officers spoke with security guards and they determined that the suspect of the first two acts of vandalism and this one had similarities.
Later on February 8th at around 10:30 a.m., officers were called to three additional businesses who reported their windows being broken.
Police say they spoke with property managers as well as staff who had discovered the windows being smashed as part of their investigation.
These latter three weren’t discovered at the same time as the prior windows being investigated because the businesses had a later opening time, so staff didn’t notice until they arrived for their shift.
According to police, there may be more broken windows that they are still unaware of.
Police are asking anyone with surveillance footage or security footage of the area from Wednesday, February 8th, as well as the 500-block of Johnson Street and 1000-block of Government Street, save it and contact VicPD.
Police say they are working to determine if the same suspect is responsible for all six instances of vandalism.
The suspect is described by VicPD as a Caucasian man who was wearing black pants and a black jacket with the hood up and black shoes at the time of the windows being smashed.
Here is a picture of the suspect:
Police ask that anyone who might have information about any of these incidents, were in the area at the time or have surveillance footage from the area, call VicPD Report at (250) 995-7654.
