Friday
September 4, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 72)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Power of one: On the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope’s untimely end, Terry Fox’s nurse shares her memories of the Canadian icon. i see page 11
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
Fentanyl, morphine among drugs stolen in brazen daylight robbery
Baton-wielding bandits hit pharmacy Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A trio of masked robbers made off with “thousands of dollars” in narcotics in South Surrey Tuesday, during a brazen afternoon incident at the Grandview Corners Pharmasave. Staff Sgt. Dale Carr said police were alerted to the robbery at the 2448 160 St. pharmacy
around 4 p.m., after three males brandishing batons entered. “Two of them went directly to the pharmacy and one went to the till,” Carr said. “One demanded drugs or narcotics, and the other was demanding cash.” In addition to quantities of morphine, fentanyl and oxycontin, the robbers – with their faces covered and wearing dark clothing –
fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. Fentanyl is the same drug that police and public health officials issued a warning over earlier this year, following a spike in overdose deaths tied to it. The opioid painkiller – was linked to 29 overdose deaths in Vancouver in 2014, along with 18 in Langley and 15 in Surrey. “They’ve been selling it as heroin and
people overuse it and die,” Carr said. While he couldn’t say if that was the intent of those behind Tuesday’s crime, it is “always a concern that any of this stuff would be crushed up and sold as something else.” The robbers were seen fleeing the scene northbound on 160 Street in a red Pontiac Grand Am. i see page 8
Not guilty plea
Child assault case in court Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
A 14-year-old White Rock boy took the stand in Surrey Provincial Court Wednesday to testify against a man charged with groping him. From behind a screen, the softspoken teen told Judge Melissa Gillespie that the accused, Robert James Antoniak, came into his room one night in February 2014 – while his dad was in the bathroom during a break from playing cards – put his hand on his bed, and then slid it over top of his “private parts.” “He put (his hand) on the side of the bed at first,” said the teen – whose identity is protected by a publication ban – in response to questions from prosecutor Adam Janturen. “I didn’t think anything of it. (Then), he moved his hand toward my left leg… toward my private parts.” Antoniak was a South Surrey resident at the time of the alleged incident. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault and “sexual interference of person under 16.” i see page 8
Gord Goble photo
Riders with the 300-km Ride to Conquer Cancer approach the U.S. border during last Saturday’s wet windstorm, on their way to raising $8.4 million.
Monsoon-like weather hinders progress – but not spirit – of fundraising cyclists
Braving storm ‘nothing compared to cancer’ Evan Seal Black Press
As the recent wind and rain storm pounded the Lower Mainland and Washington State this past weekend – taking out power and toppling trees – it also took a toll on cyclists taking part in the 300-kilometre Ride to Conquer Cancer, which took place Saturday and Sunday between Cloverdale and Redmond, Wash. Surrey cyclist Stacey Jeffares started the ride Saturday along with more than 2,000 other riders, but was soon faced with monsoon-like
South Surrey & White Rock Artists’ Open House
Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27
1 9 A R T I S T S - 1 1 LO C AT I O N S
rains that forced the riders to temporarily stop outside Bellingham and be transported by bus to the halfway point in Mt. Vernon. “The first day was a struggle for everyone,” said Jeffares. “People were actually getting off their bikes and walking because they couldn’t peddle against the wind.” Despite the harrowing “adventure” dodging flying branches, Jeffares awoke Sunday willing to continue to the finish line, but his bike developed mechanical issues, essentially ending his second attempt at completing the ride.
He was riding for his son, Nicholas, who survived cancer, and his friend, Al Martin, who succumbed to the disease in 2014. In all, 2,087 riders helped raise $8.4 million for the BC Cancer Foundation this year. For Jeffares, attempting the ride for a third time in the coming years is still a possibility, but that decision has yet to be determined. “What we went through for two days is nothing compared to what cancer patients have to deal with every day,” he said. “So I don’t want to say the ride has got the best of me just yet.”
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