15 suspects in Vancouver's Breakout Festival riot charged with mischief

Crown prosecutors have approved mischief charges against 15 young men and boys accused of participating in a riot at the Breakout Festival a year ago.

Representatives of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) said roughly 1,000 people began rioting after the festival's headliner on Sept. 18, 2022, Lil Baby, announced he was too sick to perform at the PNE Amphitheatre half an hour before the scheduled end of the show.

On Thursday, Vancouver police announced that a yearlong investigation has led to mischief charges against 15 suspects, all men and boys who were between the ages of 15 and 22 at the time of the event.

"We spent months collecting evidence and analyzing video in the aftermath of the Breakout Festival, and we promised to do everything we could to arrest those responsible for their violent and destructive behaviour," lead investigator Insp. Dale Weidman said in a news release.

"We're grateful to everyone who came forward with tips and helped us identify these suspects."

All but three of the accused live outside of Vancouver, some coming from communities as far away as Prince George, Vancouver Island and the Okanagan, according to police.

The PNE has said the rioting crowd caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage at the venue and in the surrounding neighbourhood.

Since the riot, police have released more than two dozen images of suspects taken from from security footage and bystander videos in an attempt to identify those responsible for inciting the riot and destroying property.

At a news conference Tuesday, Weidman said investigators focused on "the people who were the most heinous in their behaviour."

He added that the charges wouldn't have been possible without help from the public.

"It was truly a community effort. Without their assistance on this, we wouldn't have been able to identify everyone," Weidman said.