You can't hide from the law; not even in Saskatchewan.That was proved last week when one of the top suspects sought in relation to the 2011 Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver was arrested in Lanigan. For months, reported the Canadian Press, this suspect existed as a nameless face on a police wanted poster - a young man in a blue Vancouver Canucks jersey, one of over 100 people suspected of burning cars, looting stores and assaulting others on June 15, 2011, the night Vancouver lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.. Suspect IRIT-001, as he was called by police, is one of 15 people suspected of beating a person attempting to stop rioters from smashing the windows of a department store to steal the merchandise inside. This suspect was the only one police had yet to track down. But they found him last week in Saskatchewan. Vancouver police announced on September 26 that they had arrested Jonathan Mahoney, 24, on September 25 in Lanigan. Two officers were sent to Saskatchewan to make the arrest. Originally from Conception Bay in Newfoundland, Mahoney has been charged with participating in a riot, assault, assault with a weapon and mischief. The charges related to an assault of Robert MacKay, who was swarmed, beaten and pepper sprayed that night. Police have recommended charges be laid against all 15 suspects in the MacKay beating. Of those, charges have been approved against 11 adults and two youth. He had been working at the BHP Billiton Jansen potash mine site by Lanigan. "After a lot of miles and an investigative team that wouldn't give up, I'm happy to report that IRIT #1 was arrested at his workplace in Lanigan, Sask," stated Insp. Laurence Rankin in a news release. That workplace was not, as some media reports have stated, the PotashCorp Lanigan mine. That person had never been employed at the PotashCorp mine at Lanigan, nor was he arrested at their site. BHP Billiton actually confirmed that Mahoney was employed by one of the contractors who is working on their Jansen project, which is near Lanigan. Mahoney was arrested at their Lanigan camp, said Chris Ryder of BHP. He had only been there since September 10, he added.Investigators had tracked Mahoney from British Columbia to Manitoba, then Newfoundland and finally to Saskatchewan. Mahoney had been called the "most elusive" suspect in the riots. Overall damage caused by the riots is estimated at $4 million.The Vancouver police have so far recommended charges against 275 rioters, though Crown council has so far approved charges against only 156 of them.
