Tuesday May 29, 2012 (Vol.. 37 No. 43) 3) 3)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Rockabilly ‘n’ roll: All things rockabilly is the theme of a car and motorcycle show this weekend kend at Pacific Inn, where more than 130 30 enthusiasts are expected to share their passion for the lifestyle. see page 111
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
Abbotsford thief awaits sentence after pleading guilty to a series of residential break-ins in South Surrey
He’s not a heartless drug addict: lawyer Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A 38-year-old Abbotsford man who broke into and stole from 11 South Surrey homes did so to feed what had become a $600-a-day heroin habit, Judge Michael Hicks heard Friday. But Darwin Duane Dorozan doesn’t want sympathy for the path that led to the “severe drug addiction” that fueled his actions, defence lawyer Gordon Bowen said during his client’s sentenc-
ing hearing in Surrey Provincial Court. “He’s not here trying to garner your honour’s sympathy for a rough childhood. He’s taking full responsibility,” Bowen said. “It may seem that he’s just a heartless drug addict, but he’s not.” Dorozan pleaded guilty earlier this month – three days before he was scheduled to go to trial – to 12 counts of break-and-enter, in connection with incidents committed between April and August last year, and one in August of
2010. One of the charges stems from a break-in in Langley; another “amounts to a home invasion,” prosecutor Mike Fortino noted. Dorozan was originally charged with 21 counts of break-and-enter, one count of possession of stolen property and one count of assault with a weapon. He was arrested last August with his younger brother, Dane, after police conducting surveillance on the pair observed the removal of numerous
electronics from a home in the 16400block of 28 Avenue. The suspects fled the area in a van, and officers who followed reported seeing some of the electronics being thrown from the vehicle as it sped along 188 Street, shortly before it was pulled over near 184 Street and 20 Avenue. Damage to the home and electronics targeted that day totalled $20,000, Hicks heard. see page 4
Darwin Dorozan seeks forgiveness
Neighbourhood ‘safe’
Mum over task-force ‘takedown’
Nick Greenizan photo
Martha Currie Elementary students Holly Spacek (left) and Mia Ford Amendolagine zip down the track at South Surrey Athletic Park Friday.
Special track meet a growing concern across district
Their school colours worn with pride They ran, they jumped, they threw – they even ran across benches and weaved through cones while balancing badminton birdies on rackets. And that was just a taste of last Friday’s Elementary Special Track and Field Meet, hosted by the Surrey School District at South Surrey Athletic Park. The one-day meet featured nearly 200 special-needs athletes from 37 Surrey schools – and hundreds of teachers, parents and other
volunteers – and saw students compete in races of various distances, long jump, softball toss, T-ball and an obstacle course. “It just is a way to get kids with special needs involved (in track and field), too,” said event organizer and William Watson Elementary principal Margaret Geddes, who founded the event four years ago while at Bayridge Elementary. “We just had this idea, myself and the teachers there, to host a track meet for children with
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special needs to promote fitness and participation for all kids, and to give them a chance to wear their school jerseys.” Since the first meet was held four years ago, it has more than doubled in size. “All the schools who have attended, they want to come back, and then more and more schools are hearing about it and wanting to be a part of it,” Geddes said. – Nick Greenizan
Members of the Integrated Gang Task Force were at a Pacific Avenue home in White Rock Thursday afternoon. But White Rock RCMP Const. Janelle Shoihet said, due to safety concerns for those involved, she could share little information, including exactly what brought the team to the seaside city. “All I can tell you is the IGTF was in town,” she said Friday. The community, she added, is “absolutely” safe. “It was totally an isolated thing, I can assure you of that.” The officers caught the attention of area residents around 1 p.m. May 24. The home that was targeted is located just east of the White Rock RCMP detachment. One woman who lives nearby and called Peace Arch News the next day described the incident as a “takedown.” The officers wore blue uniforms and carried “bigger guns,” she said. Shoihet said no arrests were made, and that further information would be released to the public “as soon as it is practical to do so.” Monday morning, Shoihet remained tight-lipped, adding only that police are still looking for people associated with the incident. - Tracy Holmes
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