YOUR COMMUNITY ~]
annie eee 1969

for the
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PAGE 33

CAR DEALERS lining the strip along Marine Drive in
North Vancouver plagued by recurring incidents of
malicious damage and outright theft are stepping up efforts

SOTA Te TT a AS IE Ie OM en NTE

Joo AS SEE TT

NEWS photo Terry Peters

Ly A RECENT fall of fresh snow on the North ‘Shore mountains spells lots of fun for

cre, Seymour Ski Country’s “Lynda. Enquist tries out the slopes on the moun-
tain’s: opening day Friday..Cypress Bowl and Grouse Mountain ski areas’ expect to

: open’ this. weekend, and Blackcomb and Whistler mountains are open.

:

to curb their losses.

According to North Vancouver
RCMP Set. Andy Murray, Dick
Irwin Chevrolet Oldsmobile had
one car stolen three separate times
earlier this year. Another vehicle,
an °87 Corvette, was stolen from

the service bay area in August and ;

totally demolished by thieves.

The destroyed $45,000 car was:

later recovered crashed in the bush
at the end of Third St. and
Hamilton.

Further down the strip, Mount-
view Motors has been losing at
least $5,000 a month to thieves and
vandals.

“People will run keys down the
sides of cars, steal mags, steal
wheels, take soft tops off the
Jeeps. Last night we lost two tops.
They are worth $1,000 each
wholesale alone. Our claims have
been outrageous this year,’’ said
Paul Arnoeld, Mountview Motors
genera! sales manager. :

Fed up with the financial
bleeding, Dick Irwin Chevrolet
Oldsmobile and Mountview
Motors have recently hired private
security protection to watch over
the lots after hours.

North Vancouver RCMP are at-
tacking the problem with increased
car and foot patrols of the troubl-
ed area,

“The incidents wreak havoc on
insurance costs and cause us and
them concern. Several people have
been arrested and charged over the
period,’’ said Murray.

Most recently North Vancouver
RCMP located three men in the

sreaf lot of Dick Irwin, Nov. 16, 2

a.m., removing wheels from a
vehicle. The three were arrested for
theft under $1,000.

Arnoeld said since his dealership
hired an on-site security guard a
month ago to watch over the
Mountview and Lions Gate Motors
lots at night, incidents of theft and
vandalism have been cut substan-
tially,

“Everybody on the strip is being
hit bad. Compared to the other
dealerships I've worked at in the
past, this one gets it pretty bad,”
said Arnoeld, who believes the
frequency of theft faced by the
dealership is directly correlated to
the popularity of the Jeep products
sold.

Dick Irwin took the step to full-
time security staff for after hours
protection in August.

“The thing that scares and
bothers me is that we are seeing a
steady rise in this type of thing. If
things keep on like this I’m con-

“cerned that in a year or two the

dealership may have to be turned
into a fortress with chain link
fences and dogs,”’ said Dick Irwin
general manager Harry Mertin.
“Car buffs will not be able to
browse or press their noses to the
windows after hours. It’s unfortu-
nate that a community like North
Vancouver is going this way,’’ he
said.