100 arrests, 150 injuries in Vancouver riots

Nearly 150 people required hospital treatment and close to 100 were arrested after rioters swept through downtown Vancouver following the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.

Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Anna Marie D'Angelo said yesterday that three stabbing victims had been admitted and a man was in critical condition with head injuries after a fall from a viaduct. Rioting and looting left cars burned, stores in shambles and windows shattered over a roughly 10-block radius of the city's main shopping district.

It was similar to the scene that erupted in 1994 following the Canucks' Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers, but the latest violence shocked Canadians unaccustomed to such riots.

Police chief Jim Chu said nine officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit with a brick and some who had bite marks. He said 15 cars were burned, including two police cars. A local business leader estimated more than 50 businesses were damaged.

Chu called those who incited the riot "criminals and anarchists" and officers identified some in the crowd as the same people who smashed windows and caused trouble through the same streets the day after the 2010 Winter Olympics opened.

"These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline," Chu said. "They had a plan."

In Boston, five men arrested during celebrations of the Bruins' win appeared in municipal court yesterday. Police said one man encouraged a crowd near TD Garden to turn on police and dared officers to arrest him. Authorities said he shouted obscenities, took off his shirt and threw his belt at the officers. He was arrested on charges including inciting a riot. But that was the only disturbance as Boston prepared for a championship parade tomorrow morning.

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson said "organized hoodlums bent on creating chaos incited the riot" in his city, while city councilor Suzanne Anton said the rioting has shaken Vancouver and overshadowed the hockey team's playoff run.

"I would never have believed that Vancouver would be a city where there would be looting," she said. "I just feel such a profound sense of disappointment. We like to think we live in paradise here in Vancouver. It's hard to imagine here."

Anton said there was no loss of life or police brutality. She also said dozens of volunteers patrolled the city's entertainment strip on Thursday, picking up debris and garbage.

One of the volunteers, Al Cyrenne, carried his broom downtown to clean up the damage. "I'm all choked up," he said, as he surveyed broken windows. "I can't believe the scene. Just talking about it brings me to tears. I can't believe the people of Vancouver would do this. It's just a few idiots."

While police said it was mostly young people responsible for the mayhem, an equally young crew turned up in jeans and rubber gloves, some with Canucks jerseys, ready to help clean up.

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