Stanley Cup rioter arrested

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le2410355/

Police make new arrest in Stanley Cup riots

KATE HAMMER

Globe and Mail Update

Published Sunday, Apr. 22, 2012 2:58PM EDT

Police have arrested a man with an alleged history of post-hockey-game rioting in Alberta on new charges relating to Vancouver's Stanley Cup riots.

Andrew Comber, 38, is alleged to have dressed in green, tossed a flaming stuffed bear onto an overturned truck on West Georgia Street, and repeatedly taunted police following the Canucks' Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup final.

He was arrested at his home Saturday by RCMP officers based in Salmon Arm, 100 km east of Kamloops, according to Vancouver police. The new charges against him include participating in a riot, mischief and arson.

Mr. Comber is also wanted in Alberta for numerous charges stemming from a 2004 incident following a Calgary Flames hockey game. Those charges include assaulting a peace officer, mischief and theft under $5,000, according to police.

With the help and support of partner police agencies, rioters won't be able to escape justice by hiding in their communities,” Inspector Les Yeo, who is leading the Vancouver Police Department's riot investigation, wrote in a statement released early Sunday.

Many Vancouver residents have expressed concern about our image following the riots.

IMO it is people like this Comber character who made the damage happen. That is not reflective of Canadian character or of Vancouver as a city. This guy seems to me like a soccer hooligan, one who is intent on destroying property. He has a history of violence.

Personally, the riots did not embarrass me, as a Canadian or as a Vancouver resident. It is not on us, but on a few determined individuals. However, it does look like the police and the city underestimated the situation.

[TheLionKing]

Hope the courts throw the book at this individual. Obviously not a first timer. Defence that he was caught up in the moment doesn't wash

[Sir Purrcival]

I don't know if we should be "embarrassed" about the actions of others but at the same time, for every one of these types with a history and "from away", there were half a dozen others who decided to do this just for kicks and got "caught up in the moment". Sadly that does say something about our community as a whole. It seemed far too easy for "law abiding" citizens to just walk in an out of stores with goods that didn't belong to them (sorry but that makes you a thief) or smash or burn the property of others (that makes you a vandal). I get so angry about the complete senselessness of it all that part of me wants to take those who were involved and drop them into a country like Syria and say, you want mayhem, have at er. Don't forget to duck!

I doubt that many of those involved will ever have the good sense to feel ashamed of themselves. We all know that there are lots more in this city who took part and either "didn't get caught on camera or haven't been identified. It will always leave a taste of injustice in my mouth.