Video shows mayhem at teens' destructive West Vancouver house party

Video shows mayhem at house party The West Vancouver bash caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and triggered a police investigation.

Video obtained exclusively by CTV News shows teenagers yelling and throwing furniture during an out-of-control house party that caused $20,000 worth of damage to a luxury rental home in West Vancouver last week.

“We all knew it was going to be a rager,” said a 15-year-old who attended the gathering. CTV News has chosen to refer to the teen by the pseudonym “Adam” because he’s a minor. “About 300 people were going to show up, so we were really excited.”

Minutes after Adam and his friends got dropped off at the multi-million-dollar home in the 2400-block of Ottawa Avenue, they started drinking, while others vaped and smoked pot.

“We’re usually good. We have, like, fun, right?” Adam said.

But dozens upon dozens of underage teens, he said, soon starting packing into the 3,400-square-foot home and onto the elevated back deck.

That’s when, all of a sudden, the mood changed.

“It just flipped a switch and everyone started going crazy,” Adam said.

The footage shows sofas being catapulted off the back deck, a dining room chair being flung into the darkness below and cushions that ended up on the roof and in the hot tub.

“They cut all the canvasses of the paintings,” Adam added. “They didn’t know how much they were worth.”

Adam said four teens from the North Shore “were just going crazy” and caused the bulk of the trouble, adding that others at the party were likely too intoxicated to speak up or were afraid of the social repercussions of doing so.

“We’re were all pretty intoxicated….tipsy at least,” he answered. “I would probably lose all my friends at school, because that’s the way it is nowadays.”

The damage was widespread: paintings were slashed, walls were smashed and there was graffiti on both the inside and outside of the mansion.

West Vancouver police said the damaged added up to about $20,000, but Adam’s assessment was “much more.”

“The graffiti everywhere--it’s probably closer to $50,000,” he said

Police say a 14-year-old girl used her parents’ credit card to rent out the luxury home, and their officers responded Friday night after getting calls from concerned neighbours.

"It looked like a frat house movie,” said Michael, a neighbour who asked to be identified by first name only. “The street stank of Jägermeister.”

Adam remembers the moment police pulled up: “[Other kids] started jumping off the balcony into the lawn, running away, because they thought they would get in trouble.”

He says police calmly ushered about 200 teenagers onto to the street.

Jeff Palmer said there were “lessons all the way around.”

"Young people, unfortunately, learn the hard way that parties you intend to have small attendance can quickly grow out of control," he said. "It can happen much more quickly with social media."

No one was injured, but the bill for cleanup and repairs is still likely to sting. Police say the 14-year-old’s family has agreed to cover the damages. In return, the owner of the rental home, which property records show is a business with a P.O. Box mailing address, is not seeking criminal charges.

A rental ad on the vacation site HomeAway.ca for a nightly price of $777 has since been removed.

“I would apologize to the homeowner,” Adam said. “I obviously didn’t do any damage. I’m sorry on behalf of the kids that did.

“We’re kids, right? Stupid kids.”