2 men arrested, charged in relation to Surrey rainbow crosswalk mischief
Published 11:56 am Monday, July 6, 2026
Two men have been arrested and charged in connection with two incidents of mischief at a rainbow crosswalk in Surrey.
The crosswalk, located in Surrey’s city centre neighbourhood, was allegedly defaced in two separate incidents, one on May 30 and the other, on June 27.
Shortly before 4 p.m. on May 30, Surrey Police Service officers responded to reports of a mischief to a 2SLGBTQ+ crosswalk at the intersection of Old Yale Road and University Drive. The mischief allegedly occurred during a protest, an SPS release noted.
Officers arrived on scene and located a rainbow-coloured pride crosswalk that had been spray painted, and three men were identified as suspects.
That investigation initially resulted in one man, Amrit Birring, being arrested and released on an undertaking with numerous conditions.
On June 26, the BC Prosecution Service approved charges against two men: Birring, 58, and Errol Povah, a 67-year-old man. Both were charged with one count each of mischief over $5,000.
Birring subsequently turned himself in at SPS headquarters, was arrested, and was released on an undertaking with conditions pending his upcoming court date. Povah was arrested on Friday (July 3) in Vancouver and was released from police custody with conditions, SPS shared.
On June 27, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the same crosswalk was again allegedly defaced, the release continued, and a second count of mischief over $5,000 was approved against Povah on Friday (July 3).
Anyone with information about these incidents should contact SPS’s non-emergency line at 604-599-0502 and quote file numbers 26-54029 (SP) or 26-65989 (SP).