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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2014
Crime rings compiling list of homes prime for break-ins
40 PAGES
Thieves terrorize couple during home invasion Pair were tied up while bandits stole jewelry and cash
by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter Brinder Johal’s instincts paid off, and he’s crediting BlockWatch and his smartphone with helping him catch a teenage thief who snatched his laptop computer, hunting knife and a case of beer from his Steveston Highway home in late August. After reading Wednesday’s The Richmond Review, about a rash of break-ins in Steveston in recent weeks, he thought he’d share with the broader community the alarming intelligence he gathered after questioning the young man. It was late on Monday, Aug. 25, shortly before midnight, when Johal heard his garage door open. Already aware that somebody had broken into nearby homes, Johal was on alert, he said Thursday. So when he investigated, he found the redhanded thief in his garage, but the teen bolted. Johal managed to tackle the youngster a few houses away, and with the help of a neighbour who works in security, they handcuffed the suspect. According to the tearful 17-year-old, who was later taken into custody by Richmond Mounties, there’s at least one crime ring that canvasses neighbourhoods, looking for darkened homes, unlocked doors and windows and signs of neglect, and is compiling a list of prime targets. See Page 9
by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter
Daniel MacHolm rescued a quintet of orphaned skunks while delivering The Richmond Review.
Review carrier provides helping hand to wildlife Orphaned skunks rescued from street by boy and his newspaper wagon by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter Daniel MacHolm loaded bundles of The Richmond Review into his wagon and set out to deliver the paper in his East Richmond neighbourhood of Hamilton. But this would be no ordinary delivery day for
Daniel, one of approximately 350 Review carriers being recognized—ahead of next week’s Carrier Appreciation Week—for their significant role with Richmond’s longest running newspaper. Delivering papers along Sharpe Avenue, the 12-year-old Hamilton Elementary School student spotted something small and striped scramble into a hole of a concrete barrier. It was a baby skunk. Looking weak, and with no mother in sight, Daniel scooped one up, then another, and gently placed them in his newspaper wagon. “I like animals quite a bit, and I didn’t want them to die,” said Daniel, who delivers 331 newspapers with mom Linda MacHolm’s help, most before school. See Page 26
A Monday night break-in turned violent when two men kicked down the front door of a young family’s house at McCutcheon Place and assaulted the homeowner who was roused from his sleep around 8:15 p.m. Minutes later, when the victim’s wife returned from work, she was brought to her husband and tied up alongside him as the thieves ransacked the home and searched for valuables including cash and jewelry. It wasn’t until the couple told the bandits their young children were soon returning home, that the assailants left. But by then, the damage had already been done. The homeowner, who asked that his family’s name not be published, told The Richmond Review that he and his wife were still feeling traumatized by the incident. He said he was home alone Monday, getting some rest before a late shift, when he heard a commotion at the front of the house, initially dismissing it as his children returning home and kicking the soccer ball around downstairs. Not a single light in the house was on at the time, he recalled, which might have made it seem from the sidewalk as though nobody was home. After hearing more loud bangs coming from downstairs, he got up and peeked out his bedroom door to see two tall masked men with medium builds and wearing hoodies storming down the hallway toward him. He screamed for them to get out of his house and then closed the door, but the men forced their way in, with one of them punching him in the face, and then repeatedly striking him in the head as the pair overpowered him. Restrained and unable to call for help, he was ordered to remain still and quiet, and they threatened to kill him. They then snatched the gold chain from around his neck, and took his wedding ring. Perhaps 10 minutes later, his wife returned home, but came through a different entrance, and didn’t see the damaged front door. See Page 9
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