Niagara Regional Police Service detectives assigned to 2 District (Niagara Falls / Niagara-on-the-Lake) Criminal Investigative Branch have been actively investigating a mischief that has been determined to have occurred on June 1st, 2023, at 4:18pm to a rainbow crosswalk located at the intersection of Niagara Stone Road and Anderson Lane, in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.
On June 14th, 2023, images of the suspect, who used an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) to do “burnouts” on the rainbow crosswalk were distributed alongside an appeal to members of the public for assistance identifying the involved individual.
As a result, the suspect was identified on June 19th, 2023, as a 15 year old male resident of the City of St. Catharines. The Youth Criminal Justice Act requires police officers to consider the use of extrajudicial measures before deciding to charge a young person. As a result, the 15 year old suspect has not been charged criminally but rather introduced to the extrajudicial measures program.
The Government of Canada defines extrajudicial measures as the following:
“Extrajudicial means outside the court. Thus, extrajudicial measures aim to hold a young person accountable without proceeding through the formal court process. The Youth Criminal Justice Act encourages the use of extrajudicial measures in all cases where they are adequate to hold a young person accountable. Extrajudicial measures are presumed to be adequate to hold a first time non-violent offender accountable and can be used even if a young person has previously been dealt with by extrajudicial measures or has been previously found guilty of an offence.”
Detectives would like to thank those who came forward with information that assisted in the identification of the suspect. Images of the suspect have since been removed from the original media release and subsequent social media posts.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact the lead detective by dialing 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1009408.
Members of the public who wish to provide information anonymously can contact Crime Stoppers of Niagara online or by calling 1-800-222-8477. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to persons who contact the program with information which leads to an arrest.
Incident #23-60056
Government of Canada (Extrajudicial Measures) – Click Here
Original Media Release (June 14, 2023) – Click Here