Police are still hoping to speak to additional people as the investigation into the dumping of construction debris on private property in the 6900-block of Highway 17 continues.
“We are hoping with the fact that the material seems very distinguishable, that somebody will recognize it from a local renovation,” said Const. Tristan Gentile of Central Saanich Police Service, adding later that police do not have any suspects at this stage. “We are still hoping to find more information.”
The dumped material included painted red brick, chimney stack material made out of terracotta and bright yellow and blue stucco.
Gentile added police are currently treating the case as criminal mischief, defined as the deliberate or reckless damage of someone’s property or the act of interfering with someone’s property.
“Because this is on private property, it’s not going to be a bylaw issue,” he said, adding it will be on the property owner to pay for removing the materials. “The concern is the unknown age of the material and the composition and any hazardous material that could be in there. Of course, that all adds to the cost of the homeowner.”
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Mischief under $5,000 carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison when prosecuted by indictment. Mischief over $5,000 carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when prosecuted by indictment.
“I don’t know what the cost of removal will be, so I don’t know what the cost will be this time. Unfortunately, with the nature of the courts and the various fines and penalties, it is kind of hard for me to speculate what the exact outcome will be.”
Gentile said the owner of the property, located southwest of Island View, contacted police.
“We believe it was dumped sometime overnight April 3 into the morning of April 4.”
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