Citizens’ Crime Watch volunteers help catch homicide suspect in Vancouver
Posted July 18, 2015 7:21 am.
Last Updated July 18, 2015 7:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A man is now in custody following a murder in Vancouver Friday night.
The Vancouver Police Department is giving credit to the “quick thinking of Citizens’ Crime Watch volunteers.”
A man’s body was discovered in Andy Livingstone Park around Expo Boulevard and Carrall Street near the downtown core.
Shortly before 10 p.m., police responded to the park after witnesses phoned 911 to say they had found a body.
The Vancouver Police Department’s volunteer Citizens’ Crime Watch spotted a suspicious man running from the area of the park. They notified a police coordinator who detained the suspect.
The victim has been identified as a 44 year-old man who had recently arrived in Vancouver. His name is not being released until the notification of his family has been completed.
The suspect, 26 year-old Matthew Brenner of Vancouver, remains in custody and has been charged with second degree murder. Police says it’s not the first time Brenner has come to their attention, but they wouldn’t elaborate.
“If it wasn’t for the dedication and quick thinking of the volunteers in the VPD’s Citizens’ Crime Watch, we would not have been able to take this dangerous offender off the street so quickly,” says the VPD’s Sergeant Randy Fincham.
This is the city’s eighth homicide of the year.
