It’s a mix of fun, games, and fights at the carnival in Campbell River: Between 7:30 pm and 11:30 pm this past Saturday, police say they responded to at least ten calls at the fairgrounds.
Campbell River RCMP Cst. Maury Tyre says the night “kicked off” after a 24-year-old man, who was intoxicated and well known to police, started causing a disturbance and bothering “almost everyone in sight.”
Tyre says this led to a fight breaking out in the parking lot of the nearby Shell gas station. “A panic alarm was set off notifying police, and as luck would have it, the young man had active warrants for his arrest and he was held in police custody for court,” he says.
But it only escalated from there, Tyre explains. Officers later spotted a highly intoxicated 26-year-old woman walking away from the carnival while screaming, yelling, and waving her arms in anger as people passed by. An officer arranged for someone to pick her up.
Then, just before 10:30 pm, police responded to another report at the carnival after a highly intoxicated 18-year-old was reportedly trying to fight random people. He was later bear sprayed in the face, Tyre says. However, the man wouldn’t disclose to police who had sprayed him.
“Multiple small altercations continued to occur in the area with intoxicated teens and adults who just didn’t seem to understand that the carnival was supposed to be for fun,” Tyre notes.
He continues, “I spoke to several younger people the following day, and instead of talking about the rides and treats and the fun they had, what they talked about was the fights and the smell of drugs and liquor.”
“Quite frankly, adults who venture into an event targeted for the fun of young people and families and act as if common social decency doesn’t apply to them should be ashamed of themselves and it is simply not acceptable. These individuals succeeded in turning positive childhood memories for some into a teaching point for kids’ parents, to show their children how not to act.”
