Tuesday March 3, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 18)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
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S O U T H
S U R R E Y
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Storming the court: Southridge Storm’s senior boys defended their Fraser Valley hoops banner Saturday – qualifying for provincials alongside Lord Tweedsmuir and Semiahmoo. i see page 11
77-year-old says he’s been humiliated since being handcuffed and arrested last summer
DNA results clear senior of sex crime Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Charges against a White Rock senior arrested last August in connection with a sexual assault have been withdrawn as a result of DNA evidence. Neil MacKenzie, spokesman for the Criminal Justice Branch, confirmed Friday that the decision regarding Frederick Anthony Barron was made Feb. 5.
“There was additional evidence in the case that wasn’t available when the case was (initially) reviewed,” MacKenzie told Peace Arch News. “That evidence concluded that Mr. Barron was not the perpetrator.” Barron and his wife, Precelina, say the news reaffirms what they knew from day one: that Barron was innocent. Now, they want an apology, from both the RCMP and the woman who they say identi-
fied him as her attacker. The 77-year-old was arrested on Aug. 29 after a woman in her 20s reported she was assaulted near Victoria Avenue and Ash Street as she waited outside to go to work. Police at the time said only that the victim was “more than” grabbed, was not injured in the attack and did not know her assailant. Barron, who lives across the street, told PAN Wednesday that he was at Peace Arch Hospital
for a painful medical condition at the time in question – and he offered to show police the paperwork from the hospital to prove it. He described his arrest and the months since as “humiliating.” “It’s the worst thing that happened to me in my life,” Barron said. “A lot of people don’t phone me anymore… because (they were told) I’m a pervert.” i see page 2
Woman arrested in car
Mail cache discovered Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
Irish gig A month of Irish-themed fun kicked off at White Rock pier Sunday, with a predominantly green gathering of local residents and city officials. Billed as a flash mob, the launch event drew hundreds of enthusiasts – including White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin – many of whom stayed to enjoy Irish music, vendors, arts and crafts and even leprechauns. Members of the Crescent Beach Pipe Band (right) were among four professional performances on hand to mark the occasion. For information on Irish events and activities planned this month, visit www.InWhiteRock.com
Boaz Joseph photos
A Delta woman is facing a quartet of charges after police found mail, bank and credit cards and meth in a car parked in South Surrey Wednesday night. Cpl. Bert Paquet said the discovery was made just before midnight Feb. 25, after a convenience-store employee alerted police to a suspicious vehicle that had been parked “for hours” outside the store, in the 13900-block of 16 Avenue. Unable to see inside due to tinted windows, the responding officer knocked on the Honda’s driverside window, then opened the door. Inside was a woman, more than 150 pieces of mail, several cellphones and “evidence of other criminal activities relating to credit cards and bank cards.” Mail theft has been a prominent issue in South Surrey, Newton and Cloverdale in recent months, with police and Canada Post fielding regular reports of stolen or damaged community mailboxes. The incidents are not only inconvenient for those affected, but puts them at risk of identity theft, Paquet said. Police are working with Canada Post security officials on strategies to curb the problem. Paquet described the quantity of mail found Wednesday as “significant… The contents of an entire mailbox would probably yield something like that,” he said. i see page 2
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