Vancouver police have charged a man with robbery and aggravated assault after a teen was slashed in the face during an early-morning attack on Granville Street last month.
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Vancouver Police Department investigators say Crown counsel has approved charges against a suspect in connection with a downtown robbery in which a 19-year-old was allegedly slashed in the face.
According to the VPD, the victim was in the 900-block of Granville Street on Saturday, Aug. 8, at about 3:20 a.m. when two men approached him and his friends. Investigators allege that during the encounter, a chain necklace was removed from the victim’s neck and he was slashed with a blade.
The VPD said the victim suffered a five-inch slash that ran from the tip of his nose, beneath his eye, and ended near his eyebrow. The investigation led to an arrest on Friday, Sept. 18, when police took 29-year-old Garret William Thomas into custody in the city’s Downtown Eastside.
The VPD said investigators also executed a search warrant at Thomas’s residence on Sept. 18. Thomas has been charged with one count of robbery and one count of aggravated assault and remains in custody pending a bail hearing.
Police are still seeking a second suspect they believe was involved in the Aug. 8 incident. The VPD has released a photo of the man and asked anyone with information to contact the department’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541.
Alongside the charges related to the Granville Street incident, the VPD has also previously shared information about what it called a “disturbing incident” at a downtown fast-food restaurant. In that matter, officers received reports that two men entered Burger Crush on Nelson Street, damaged property, and left before police arrived.
The VPD said video of the fast-food confrontation was shared on social media and that the two men reportedly yelled at staff and customers and claimed to be part of a gang. The department’s posting included comments from Inspector Erin Roulston that the behaviour was unacceptable for restaurant staff and patrons.
In the Granville Street case, police’s charging decision and the arrest of a first suspect mark the latest step in the ongoing downtown investigation. With one person still outstanding, the VPD is emphasizing public assistance to identify the second man believed to have participated in the robbery and assault.
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