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Vancouver Police lay charges in Vancouver riots criminal acts

Vancouver police have recommended their first charges to emerge from the Stanley Cup riot, asking the Crown to lay charges of arson, mischief, unlawful assembly and participation in a riot.

Chief Jim Chu said the suspect turned himself in to police the day after rioters tore through Vancouver's downtown, lighting cars on fire and looting stores.

Vancouver police says about half a dozen people so far have turned themselves into police, admitting they took part in the riot Wednesday night.

There is a large unit investigating the riot, including members of the RCMP and other police agencies around the Metro Vancouver, he said.

"We are going to vigorously pursue those lawbreakers,'' Chu told reporters Friday.

He said there have been many tips from the public to help identify rioters.

"We've been overwhelmed by the large number of tips that have come in,'' Chu said.

"Our server was crashed yesterday because so much volume of material was coming forward from members of the public.''

The server was back up and running, and Chu encouraged the public to keep the tips coming in. Several websites and Facebook pages have been set up with photos and video from the mayhem, asking people to identify the thugs.

---Filed by Canadian Press

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