January 8, 1992 42 pages Classifieds 986-6222 Lower Lonsdale shopkeeper robbed, left to burn in store A NORTH Vancouver man was robbed, tied up, soaked with 2 flammable liquid and left to burn after thieves at- tacked him as he was closing his Lower Lonsdale-area shop Friday evening. The storekeeper managed to escape the fire thanks to the heroic efforts of a young man who assisted him at the scene. Nosratoiiah Yousefi, 44, has operated his Iran Trading Co. retail: and whoiesale store in the 200-bleck of Lonsdale Avenue for about a year. He came.to Canada from Iran three years ago. Several months ago a man at- tempted to rob him of some wat- ches. Yousefi fought the man off by striking him with a billiard cue. The same man returned with an armed accomplice Friday. Yousefi believes they were seeking revenge. As he was atcernpting to move a sandwich board from the sidewalk fronting his shop just before 6 p.m., he felt a sharp jab. He was told by a Caucasian man, who was armed with a knife, not to say a word or touch anything and to make his way up the stairs to the rear of the store. An eccompanying black man took a handgun from his pocket and stood guard by the stairs. “T asked him (the man with the knife} what happened, what's go- ing on? The white guy told me he couldn’t move his hand for two months, that’s why he was here. “7 told him, ‘Forgive me, I have two children.” That’s when the black guy told me, ‘Shut up f...ing stranger.’ The white man told me that ‘After this you will die or go back home.’ That’s it. At that time the white guy told me to take out everything from my pocket,”’ Yousefi said. Yousefi pulled from his pockets about $235 cash, som2 cheques and keys and put them on a table. He said the suspect then pushed him away from the table. The man took from a black sports bag some tape, rope and a white plastic container filled with a flammable liquid. The suspect placed tape over Yousefi’s mouth, tied his hands behind his back and roped his ankles together. By Michael Becker News Reporter The suspect then splashed some of the flammable liquid throughout the store. Added Yousefi, ‘‘He took about half a glass of liquid and put it on my face and my body.”’ A fire was lit upstairs and the two men left, locking the door behind them. Yousefi said he managed to wriggle his way to the glass front door and attempted to break the glass with his feet. But the door would not give. At that point an 18-year-old man walking by the store with his wife and baby saw Yousefi strug- gling inside the burning store. “He (who Yousefi only knows as Eric) tried to break the glass about eight times but he couldn't,’” Yousefi said. Said Yousefi’s 16-year-old daughter Baharak, ‘‘He (Eric) told me that he asked a driver if he had a metal object so that he could break the window — the driver looked at him and just drove away. At that time the store was burning. “Everyone just wanted to get out of the situation. It was a big nightmare. Eric told me that peo- ple walked by and did nothing about it.’’ Added her father, ‘‘No one cared, just an 18-year-old guy, with his wife and a two-week-old baby. It’s a dangerous situation, but he did it anyway.’” Said Baharak, ‘‘When Eric came back with nothing in his hand he (her father) thought it’s over, When he (Eric) pushed it and it opened it was like a miracie.”’ Yousefi is uncertain about con- tinuing to do business in the Lower Lonsdale area. A North Vancouver RCMP in- vestigation of the incident con- tinues, 7} Index 68 Budget Beaters & Business .... EE Comics .... . @ Frugal Gourmet. . @ Lifestyles @ North Shore Now @ Dr. Ruth MTV Listings .. 8 What's Goin Weather Thursday mostly cloudy. Friday, rain. Highs 7°C, Lows IC. Second Class Registration Number 3885 REACHING EVERY DOOR ON NORTH SHOR Office, Editorial 985-2131 The poetic images of Josef Koudelka Arts Now 19 aS A Display Advertising 980-0511 Distribution 986-1337 Victim of attack FROM HIS bed at Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver store owner Nosratollah Yousefi recounts how he was attacked Friday and left to burn in his Lower Lonsdale shop. North Vancouver RCMP are investigating the inci- lent.