VANCOUVER -- The charges approved against two men following a heated confrontation over masks at a Vancouver pizza restaurant have been stayed, prosecutors confirmed Tuesday.
James Henry Davidson and Brenton Thomas Woyat were charged with assault in connection with the Feb. 20 altercation at a Pizza Pizza location in Kitsilano, part of which was captured on video. The recording shows the men arguing with staff, then roughing up a teenager who was waiting outside the restaurant.
The B.C. Prosecution Service said the charges were stayed after Davidson and Woyat completed an alternative measures program – a process that allows accused criminals to avoid prosecution, at the Crown's discretion.
According to the Crown counsel policy manual: "In many cases, alternatives to prosecution can appropriately and effectively address harm done to the community and victim(s), while still allowing offenders to be rehabilitated and accept responsibility for their criminal conduct."
The details of the alternative measures involved in Davidson and Woyat's case have not been released. Crown spokesperson Dan McLaughlin said under the law, those details can only be disclosed through a court order.
The confrontation at Pizza Pizza appears to have started as a dispute over the restaurant's mask policy, which was implemented in accordance with B.C.'s province-wide mask mandate. The video captured one man telling staff: "You guys are complete morons. COVID is a joke. You are completely brainwashed."
Woyat was an investment advisor at Canaccord Genuity at the time, according to Facebook and LinkedIn pages that were no longer publicly visible after the charges were laid.
At the time, Canaccord Genuity told CTV News it had suspended an employee without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
