Tuesday February 4, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 10)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
A new year: A Chantrell Creek Elementary student performs with a guzheng – or zither – at the school’s second-annual Chinese New Year festival, kicking off the Year of the Horse. i see page 11
Taxi driver among three arrested – then released – near Peace Arch Hospital
‘Crack shack’ arrests follow gunfire Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Three people were arrested and released following police gunfire in White Rock last week. Officers say the takedown was connected to the investigation of a “known crack shack.” Sgt. Peter Thiessen said Friday the trio – for which he would not release any information, including age – have also not been charged “at this point.”
They were arrested in the 1500-block of Finlay Street near Peace Arch Hospital around noon Wednesday, after police fired at a vehicle as three suspects attempted to flee the area. No injuries were reported. At the scene, a white taxi was in the middle of the road, its front doors open and the window of its right front passenger-side smashed out. Thiessen would not say if it was a gunshot
that shattered the window, nor would he comment on how many shots were fired. “That’s part of the investigation determining exactly what occurred there, how many shots may have been fired,” he said. He did confirm that the driver of the cab was one of the three who were arrested. Witnesses told Peace Arch News Wednesday that they also saw an elderly woman escorted by police from the taxi to a police car.
Thiessen would not comment on the details of the taxi’s involvement. Coquitlam RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit is conducting an independent investigation into the officer-involved shooting. Thiessen said that investigation will look at the circumstances of the incident to determine “whether the officer was justified or not” in firing. i see page 4
Shane MacKichan photo
Paramedics prepare to airlift a senior citizen who was ‘grazed’ by a train in White Rock Saturday evening, after the resident wandered from his care home. Officials say he is recovering.
Senior suffers broken ribs after wandering to the base of Oxford Street
Care-home resident survives being hit by train Tracy Holmes & Alex Browne Staff Reporters
A senior citizen was airlifted to hospital Saturday evening, after he was struck by a freight train on the White Rock waterfront. According to witnesses, a man in his 70s was hit as he wandered southbound on the tracks near Oxford Street and Marine Drive. He reportedly suffers from dementia and had wandered away from the nearby Evergreen Baptist Care Home shortly before. BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas
said Monday the incident occurred at 7:50 p.m., and every effort was made to stop the southbound, 125car train before impact. “Upon observing the subject – he was walking in the middle of the tracks – the train crew began whistling, they sounded the bell… went into an emergency-brake application,” Melonas said. “Unfortunately, the subject attempted to step off of the tracks at the last second and the crew reports grazing the individual with the lead locomotive. It wasn’t a direct strike.”
The train was travelling at 27 km/h when the senior was spotted, and was delayed two hours by the incident, he said. BNSF’s operating team continue to investigate, Melonas added. Evergreen is located at 1550 Oxford St., less than a kilometre north of the waterfront down one of White Rock’s steepest streets. Home executive director Stephen Bennett told Peace Arch News it is “amazing” that the resident – who, to this point, has lived in a wing that does not restrict in/out privileges –
was not more seriously injured. “The information we received from the hospital is that he has two or three broken ribs and a few abrasions – he’s doing remarkably well,” Bennett said. The incident may, however, prompt a change in policy. Bennett said Evergreen is not yet equipped with security devices employed by other care homes, such as bracelets that will trigger an alarm if restricted residents attempt to leave the building. “What we want to determine and
review is whether (having in/out privileges) is appropriate for residents,” he said. “When all is said and done… is it even reasonable to have that? Or are there technologies that we can be putting in place so that something like this never, ever happens again?” (A new care tower proposed for the Evergreen site was to be the subject of a public hearing at White Rock Community Centre Monday evening, after PAN press time.) i see page 2
Jan. 14th to Feb. 28th
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