BC Police Shut Down A 60-Person Party This Weekend & Charged Them $2,300

Just hours after the province introduced $2,000 fines for house parties in B.C., police dished out the penalty to the host of a big gathering. After repeated warnings that their event was dangerous, people still came. This comes in the middle of a spike in daily cases unseen since the start of the pandemic.

At roughly 10:30 p.m. on Friday, August 21, Victoria Police broke up a large party in the province's capital, according to a release the following day.

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They'd known of the planned gathering beforehand, and stopped by earlier at 7 p.m. to warn the resident of "COVID-19 safety protocols."

Three-and-a-half hours later, police returned to the one-bedroom suite to find roughly 15 people inside.

"Officers asked the host to end the party as it was causing a disturbance, and unsafe during the COVID-19 pandemic," wrote VicPD. "The host told the officers that he would cooperate."

Officers continued to monitor the party, and watched as more and more people arrived. When they re-entered the suite, there was "approximately 30 people inside, not practicing physical distancing."

"The room was densely populated, hot, and moisture had built up on the windows. Patrol officers believed approximately 40-60 people attended the party."

"This is definitely the first fine VicPD issued under the COVID related measures act," said Cst. Cam MacIntyre to Narcity.

While he can't speak for other agencies, he said he hasn't heard of anyone else in B.C. who enforced the act yet.*

"There is something to be said for the recklessness and the risk that it poses to everyone in that building," continued MacIntyre.

He added that the risk of a police officer contracting COVID-19 would then affect the community, as they won't be able to do their job as well.

Police charged the suite's resident with a $2,000 fine under the COVID-19 Related Measures Act, on top of a $300 victim surcharge levy.

"Party attendees were directed to leave the area. No additional violation tickets were issued," wrote VicPD.

The party happened in the middle of a soar in cases. Early the previous week, B.C. broke its previous record of the most active cases in its history.

During the same update when they announced the record-breaking numbers, officials promised a "more comprehensive approach to increase enforcement."

*Cover photo used for illustrative purposes only.
*This article has been updated.