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“of holiday. shopping, in ‘local -
, ‘department ~stores. is a klep-.
. tomaniac’s. paradise, : ; “

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Page Ai0 —> Terrace Standard, ‘Monday, Dacember 24, 1991

By JEFF NAGEL |
TERRACE ~~ Is it Christmas

, shopping or Christmas shop Hit.
‘ting?’

‘Ht all: Tooks ihe” same to "the.

* untrained, -eye,, Dut. to’ one of,:
~Terrace’s;. most.’ experienced

‘ storé detectives the frantic ‘rusti

“There is an incredible -

“amount” of shoplifting at

Christmas,”*’ says: ‘Lucy’ — a

seasoned store security. officer .

‘with three and a half years ex-

of the year, along with the back
to-school season -- in.

, September. ”

Now working -with. Lockport
AOE Terrace; . “she's

rests last year alone.
She said the extra pressures of

. the holiday season are probably
partly responsible for the :

yuletide: thieving...

“At Christmas - people: ‘age.

‘Stealing presents,” - ‘she. said.
“They're buying more. “expen-

_ sive items that they want ‘but

‘that they wouldn't ordinarily

buy. It’s happening all the time, ;
. but: particularly ‘at. Christmas. ..

People have no idea how serious’

a problem it is.’”

But as with all other times of

_the year, she said, it’s not that

the shoplifters can't. afford the

item they steal. Only a tiny frac-

‘tion of people she arrests are

stealing because they are

“poor: We

“It’s not the poor,’’ she said.

“It's everybody and anybody, ~

eran *:
‘them to pay

for the item, they . just don’t.

Guns

¢ hristmas i Is a Dusy
for those shoplifters _

e

“want to pay for it. So they steal
it. cad
«There's also an attitude

“athong most shoplifters that the.

- store owes them in some way,
she added,

“.. It’s competition — they.

want to be better than the
Joneses,.to have more than the
Joneses."?

Who is a typical shoplifter?
Lucy says thete isn’t one. .

.Literally anyone — from

- lawyers. and executives to

heuteyives: int rsenior citizens
-- can and do steal. ‘‘A lot of
people think it’s just kids, but

flow across border >

that just isn’t true, ’’ she says.

She estimates around 80 per
cent of her arrests are adults,
and most of those are senior
citizens.

**It can be absolutely
anyone,”’ she'said. “And it hap-
pens all the time, From the time
stores open in the moming until
the time they close at night,
there’s shoplifting going.on.” ..

“Tt’s a huge problem — a
multi-million dollar problem,"
adds. Lockport Secirityit
manager Joe Sullivan. ‘And all
of the costs get passed on to the

between Stewart, Hyder

TERRACE = More’ than, ‘iwo.,
dozen firearms.tiave been seized
so far by police across the coun-~’
try that, RCMP say were smug-
eng Ob thie B.Cz-border at..

oe from Alaska"
, Chuck Hart — a Hyder, .

‘Alaska, man known as the
. Border. Bandit for his sporting

gods . shop: ‘specializing’ wdn,.

Capos | sates-and: machine gad’

“weapons, said Cpl. David

’ Beach,, of. the Prince Rupert

RCMP subdivision.

Canadians buying weapons at |
Hart’s store are supposed to’
declare them, along with any.
other merchandise purchased in
-Hyder; to the Prince Rupert
customs office, because the
Stewart border crossing has
been closed since the early
1980s, They must also havé per-
mits and firearms acquisition
certificates before. bringing . a
weapon into the country.

It’s believed merchandise, i in-
cluding weapons, regularly —

- @t@gs the border from Hyder |
_ ‘without being declared, largely
’» because of the lack of a customs

office there, said Haig Bozoian,
the region’s chief customs of-
fieer,

Fence up

TERRACE — A fence has.now
been erected to keep people out
of a toxic waste site in a gravel
yard in Thornhill, highways
ministry officials said last week.

The fence went up last week,. :

said area highways manager
Earl. Nygaard, and signs warn-
ing of the restricted area are
also to be in place soon,

The.20 barrels of herbicides

“unearthed i in thechiphitetys:yi ard:
-at ‘the top of the hill. on Sia.

Lakelse Lake road were the -
focus of an intense $100,000 en- ”

vironmental cleanup last
month.

“The barrels of old 2,4-D and”
2, 4,5-T: herbicides were found .

On: ‘the site in the spring. after a: i.
tip about the old si site was phon- . ae:

|, Resources Ltd..
placed the contaminated.
material. ;in “lined | ‘steel. drums

Keystone En- |

‘He said the only indication
goods are to be declared is a
large sign at the border crossing
advertising a toll-free phone
filimber to ‘éall ‘todeclare im-
ported goods to the Prince
Rupert office.

“The free phone line has been
used, but it hasn’t been rung off
“the: Shook, that’s for sure,’

4 Bozolan-noted, He added that
otentals —.is believéd to“he tlt:

“soures.” ‘of the smuggled:

only one person called to
declare a weapon in recent mon-
ths.

The RCMP’s five-month in-
: vestigation ended last week with
the confiscation of weapons at
homes across western Canada.
Beach said all the guns were
smuggled in at Stewart by peo-
ple who bought the weapons but
didn't declare them to customs
officers or RCMP. :
Although most of the
weapons were seized in Stewart,
Beach said seizures guns smug-
_ ged. through Stewart were also
‘thade in Prince George,

“Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon
and as far away as Ontario.
.. The weapons included an

- pana d Tame: Jessica Ra
Date & Time of Birth: November 21, 1990 at 6:56 am
Weight: & lbs.
-_Pareata: Dan & Lauria Lindstrom

AK-47 semi-automatic assault
rifle; and handguns, shotguns
and rifles ranging in power
from = 22S: ‘calibre «to. 44° 7
magnum.’ Beach’: sid - ‘the
weapons. ‘have ‘been “forfeited
and will be destroyed...
He said about 10 RCMP of-
ficers from Prince Rupert and

vestigators . determined ~ had
weapons that were brought
across the border without repor-
ting to customs.

Individuals caught with

undeclared imported weapons -

forfeit them on the spot, Beach
said, or else face charges under
the Customs Act.

RCMP. have no jurisdiction
over what goes on in Hyder, but
he added Alaskan authorities
are investigating the Border
Bandit’s operations,

“The Border Bandit is aware
of the requirements for Cana-
dians .buying weapons there,”
said Bozoian. ‘‘He’s aware he
can’t sell to Canadians without
permits.”

Sax: Female _

5s: Balty's Hama; Oavid Wayne Clitlord
sce + Dale & Thee of Bath: Novamber (4, 1990 at £2:10 pm
i Wright: 9 ibs. 2 oz, Saxt Mala,
Parents: Wayne & Lynn Norton
A spacial little brother for Andiea & Jamie

_... ,. Baby's Name: Martin Nathaniel Robinson Jr.
“Bate & Ting of Birth: November 16, 1880 al 2:31 am
_ >” Weights 7ibs, 16 or. ;

- Parante: Martin & Rachel Robinson .

‘fax: Male”

Baby's Nama: Abby Malena

Date & Time ef Birth: November 16, 1890°at 4:25 pm
Weight: & lbs. 11 oz.

> Parente: Glon & Natalie Wiens. -

=. Tht sean: abe

OLATHOUSE
__ Great Savings on
Remaining Christmas

Stock and Toys
24 Jan. 1

Sex: female”

68-8236

mike te pt aig a Hg ot mE Dee aes

“prices. - And sports gis a
_ criminal offence:: YOu

. example’. ‘for their children,

and were always able to get

‘money.’ She put him under ar-
_ rest immediately.

Oe

Stewart confiscated weapons in ©
Stewart from people who in- —

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many women’ stealing beauty
aids, and last :.year recovered .
$24,000 ‘worth of stolen”
cosmetics. ae

With’ teenagers, : it’s ofien
cassette tapes,: actie. medication .
and condoms. ‘Many of them .
are tob -embarrassed. to buy
them: (condoms), s0: o. they steal |
them.?,o:¢ 0.

Shoplifting ‘i in: grocery stores
tends to involve the high-ticket
items such as steak and seafood, -
and .those special extras that &
people.normally ‘pass: up to stay :
on budget. ,

Some mothers even steal
thingsin: front. of their children, .
Lucy ‘says, ‘setting ‘‘a horrible.”

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Failing to stop children from -
stealing is just as bad, she main-
tains.

“J don’t let any kid g0— 1
don’t let’ anybody go,” she af- @
firms. uo os -

‘She. says. most people steal ‘J
because they were never stopped

away with it. |

“When I arrest them, they’re
shocked. They're floored,
They're in awe, Some people get
mad at you and make a scene.
Some try to talk their way out
of it. But. you've got ta keep
control, ”" .

. She ir one execiitive tried to
_buibe er: with 510,000 to not
seid tim."

~ “He said ‘Come on, we can
work something out.’ And I
know he would have paid the

Come in and open your ravolving charge account

: Terrace Furniture Mart cf
638-0565 concand a

She said even in Terrace there
are ‘‘professional shoplifters’’
who frequently line up buyers
for an item before they even go
in to steal it.

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Give Santa this toll free number
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