‘Let’s go and get him,’ witness heard before fatal encounter
Police investigating coffee shop incident that resulted in 22-year-old’s death
A witness has described the strange confrontation that led to a young man being left unconscious and bleeding profusely on the floor inside a Burnaby Starbucks.
It was a shocking incident inside a popular coffee shop, but the public only heard about it from media reports for the first time this week when the injured man died in hospital. Police did not issue any statements about it and no charges have been laid.
A civil-rights group is raising questions about why police kept the man’s death under wraps. And while media reports have portrayed the encounter as having broken out over a tossed cigarette butt, a witness who explained what he saw adds more details to the story.
Michael Page-Vincelli has been identified in media reports as the man who died. An obituary for the 22-year-old describes the “extreme sorrow” felt by his family, and thanks the nurses and staff at the New Westminster hospital for their “loving care.”
A woman who answered the phone at the family home declined comment, but Page-Vincelli’s mother, Steffany Page, wrote a post honouring her son on Facebook.
“We love you Michael, always and forever,” she wrote.
The confrontation took place on July 12 inside a Starbucks in Burnaby. Michael Zimeras, 73, was sitting outside when he saw a young man emerge from the coffee shop. The man lit a cigarette and began to pace back and forth, yanking his T-shirt up and down, mumbling and cursing about the government and not being allowed to smoke inside, said Zimeras.
“He was looking very agitated,” he said.
Some time later, the young man approached a woman who was sitting in a parked car outside a nearby bank, said Zimeras, and began yelling that he didn’t want to see her any more. She tossed a cigarette onto the ground and the young man picked it up and threw it at her through an open window, Zimeras said.
At that point, the young man left and went back to the Starbucks, and another man emerged from the bank, said Zimeras. He said the woman told the man what had happened and the man said, “Let’s go and get him.”
The man went into the Starbucks while the woman stood outside holding the door, said Zimeras. After about a minute, the man emerged and said, “Let’s get ... out of here,” before they drove away.
Zimeras rushed inside the coffee shop and saw the young man crumpled and unconscious on the floor, with blood pouring from his mouth, nose and ears. Zimeras said he heard from a customer that the man had punched him in the face and he had hit the side of his head on a counter.
The Canadian Press has not spoken to anyone who witnessed the alleged punch.
“I knew him, when I saw him down on the ground that he was dead, the way he was trying to breathe,” said Zimeras. “I said, ‘He won’t make it. He’s dead.’ ”
Police have released few details about their investigation and refused to confirm details of the case reported by media outlets based on interviews with witnesses.
Cpl. Meghan Foster of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said a man was taken to hospital after the confrontation on July 12 at a business at the 6500 block of Hastings Street in Burnaby, the block where the Starbucks is located.
Foster said the man died in hospital a few days later. Officers don’t believe there is any risk to the public, she said.
“We’re advancing the investigation and pursuing leads diligently in an effort to advance the investigation and no names will be released until charge approval will be obtained,” she said. “Right now we’re in a position where we can’t say anything more than that.”
Josh Paterson, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said there may have been legitimate investigative reasons why the police did not tell the public about the incident.
But they should be more clear and transparent about what their standards are for releasing information, he said.
“As the public and the media, we’re unable to form a judgment about how effective our police are being if we don’t know, in general, about the kinds of crimes they’re investigating,” he said.
Starbucks Canada issued a statement that says it is supporting the RCMP in their investigation.
“We were shocked and saddened by this assault, and our thoughts are with his family,” the statement said.