Speaking of Safety ...
TUESDAY March 17, 2015 • www.langleytimes.com NEWS Referendum Q&A
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ARTS & LIFE LHT Tickets Now On Sale
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SPORTS Tourney Fills LEC
Fairy Tales on Ice
Trial begins in New Year’s Eve killing
JAMES INGLIS Langley Time s
Snow White (Julia Enriquez) and the Seven Dwarves take to the ice at George Preston Recreation Centre as the Langley Figure Skating Club presented its version of “Into the Woods” on Saturday, March 14.
Langley man charged in fiveweek spree of bank robberies Ti m e s Re po r t e r
Charges have been laid against a Langley man who is accused of robbing or attempting to rob no fewer than seven banks in the Lower Mainland during a five week span, from Jan. 27 to March 4, 2015. Thomas Dennis Prosser, 36, was arrested by Ridge Meadows RCMP on March 4, after a lone male entered a Bank of Montreal in the 20600 block of Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge. Police say the man indicated that he had a gun and was able to flee the bank with an undisclosed amount of money. Investigators of Ridge Meadow RCMP’s Street Enforcement Unit
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had earlier viewed photographs of a suspect believed to be responsible for a string of six bank robberies in Langley and Surrey. Believing the suspect they had in custody was also responsible for those robberies, they contacted RCMP in Surrey and Langley. A search warrant was executed at Prosser’s Langley residence and all investigative findings were forwarded to Crown Counsel who approved seven counts of robbery. Prosser remains in custody pending a court appearance. In addition to the March 4 robbery in Maple Ridge, the charges against Prosser stem from inci-
dents which took place on Jan. 26, Feb. 17, Feb. 20, Feb. 27 and March 3. The first robbery took place at a Royal Bank in Surrey, where a man entered the bank and produced a note indicating that he was armed and demanding money. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken. On Feb. 17, the man attempted to rob the Westminster Savings Credit Union, located in the 20800 block of Fraser Highway in Langley. In this instance, no cash was obtained. Three days later, on Feb. 20, the man entered the TD Canada Trust in the 18600 block of Fras-
er Hwy. in Surrey and produced a note indicating that he was armed. Once again, the suspect departed with an undisclosed amount of money. Similar incidents occurred on Feb. 27 at an HSBC in the 20000 block of the Langley Bypass, on March 3 at a Surrey Scotia Bank and again on March 3 at an Aldergrove CIBC. In each of those cases, the suspect once again produced a note and managed to get away with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police are continuing their investigation and asking anyone who may have further information to call them or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
JASON BREWER ACCUSED OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER OF COLE MANNING IN LANGLEY BASEMENT SUITE ON DEC. 31, 2012 MONIQUE TA MMING A Time s Re po rte r
The second degree murder trial against Langley resident Jason Brewer has started in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. On Monday, Crown counsel Ranjit Khangura told a judge that the Crown will set out to prove that Brewer, 26, stabbed his friend Cole Manning, 40, to death in Brewer’s bedroom inside his Willoughby basement suite on New Year’s Eve 2012. The trial is expected to take three weeks, with Crown calling 11 witnesses, mainly police officers, a blood spatter expert, forensic expert, some of Brewer’s friends, his then-girlfriend’s mother and the pathologist who did the autopsy. At the conclusion of jury selection, Brewer decided to enter a not guilty plea and the trial is now with a judge alone. Members of Manning’s family were in the courtroom. Brewer sat listening in the prisoner’s box, wearing a blue golf shirt, with his brown hair cropped short and a trimmed goatee. He has sleeves of tattoos. Continued Page 4