Police say more than 80 vehicles have been damaged after a 41-year-old man allegedly keyed cars and slashed tires in a "random" crime spree Tuesday morning in Surrey.
Dean McEwen, a 41-year-old man with no fixed address, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the crime spree.
McEwen faces two charges approved by Surrey Crown Counsel of mischief under $5,000, Surrey RCMP announced Wednesday.
On Feb. 4, the Burnaby RCMP put out a press release asking for the public's help in locating Dean Wallace McEwen, who was last seen that afternoon at around 4:30 p.m. at the Burnaby General Hospital.
"Police are concerned for McEwen's well-being," said Cpl. Lee-Anne Dunlop in the press release. "McEwen was distressed when last seen and police ask anyone who sees McEwen not to approach him and call police right away."
Dunlop also noted that McEwen had been known to travel throughout the Lower Mainland.
On Tuesday morning, Surrey RCMP began to get calls from residents around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Throughout the morning they received several complaints and even cellphone video footage of the suspect in action.
"We were essentially chasing down calls for service," said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger. "We were going from complaint to complaint until we eventually caught up with him."
The crime spree began at Surrey Central SkyTrain station around 10 a.m. But the damage wasn't contained to SkyTrain parking lots. The man allegedly went into nearby lots, such as the parking lot of Central City Shopping Centre, toward the White Spot on King George Boulevard and even a nearby PriceSmart Foods.
He then allegedly headed down to Scott Road SkyTrain station, where police arrested him around 12:30 p.m.
"The damage was confined to slashing tires and keying vehicles. At this point, we're looking at about 80 vehicles," Grainger said.
Police have looked at the makes, models and colours of the vehicles damaged and there appears to be no connection.
"It's all completely random," Grainger said, adding the suspect who was arrested has no fixed address and is known to police, with a history of drug- and mischief-related charges.
"We engaged our mental health unit to assess the person's well-being," Grainger said.
"I've never experienced an incident like this to this degree," he added.
The real victim is ICBC, Grainger said, adding the damages are in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Adam Grossman, spokesperson for ICBC, said ICBC had received about 70 claims relating to this incident by Wednesday afternoon.
ICBC had 12 claims adjustors at both SkyTrain stations throughout the day and into the early morning hours of Wednesday.
ICBC representatives were helping customers change tires on site, if they were lucky enough to only have had one tire slashed, he said.
Grossman expects the vandalism will cost a substantial amount but had no estimates as of Wednesday.
Grainger said the 41-year-old man was in court Wednesday morning.
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