Thieves hit NV jewelry store for

major

haul

Employee bound in Westview heist

THE NORTH Vancouver RCMP are still searching for suspects after two thieves netted a major haul of jewelry earlier this month when they robbed a North Vancouver

jewelry store.

The armed robbery took place Dec. 3 at approximately 4:30 p.m. at Quasar Jewellers Ltd. in the Westview Shopping Centre.

By Michael Becker News Reporter

According to a North Van- couver RCMP spokesman, a lone employee was working in the store when he unlocked the door for what he thought was a customer.

As soon as the store’s door was opened, a second man ran in and struggled with the employee. One of the thieves was armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a_ large dutcher knife.

The two suspects forced the clerk into the rear of the store, where they taped his wrists and ankles together.

One of the suspects ‘remained with the employee while the other emptied the display cases of their contents.

The jewel thieves left the scene in a blue, 1967 Plymouth Fury, reportedly stolen froia an -Ab- botsford body shop. The escape car was last seen iraveiling west on the Upper Levels Highway.

@ The weapon-wielding suspect is described as being a bearded Caucasian male, 25 to 20 vears old, 5’ 10", 175 pounds, of slim

build, with red hair and pale complexion.

He smelled of cigarette smoke

and was wearing a jean jacket, jeans and a baseball cap. @ The second suspect is described as being a Caucasian male, ap- proximately 25 to 30 years old, 5’ 10", 185 pounds, of medium build, medium complexion and with dirty blond hair.

He was wearing a gold, looped earring in his left ear, a jean jacket, jeans, a light colored T- shirt and white baseball cap.

One of the suspects is believed to have visited the store earlier that day.

The value of the loss has yet to be determined.

Said North Vancouver RCMP investigator Const. Doug Chisholm, ‘‘The owners are still doing an inventory of their losses, which represented the majority of their stock.””

Security measures at the store were improved following an arm- ed robbery in 1989.

In that robbery, three masked men burst into the store, held the owner at gunpoint with a sawed- off shotgun and smashed display cases.

When the victim chased the robbers, he was fired upon before

the three suspects sped off in a ;

getaway car.

| Alternative route would have & delayed project’s completion

From poge % responded to the requests of the residents,"’ said Dykeman.

He added that Glen Aire Drive residents had requested that the road’s construction be completed by December.

Dykeman said the alternative, to build a road along the playing field’ of nearby Klahanie - Park, would have delayed completion of the project until after December.

“I know that there’s a visible sear standing on the road, but most of the residents have fences. Sure, some of the trees were removed, but there’s an awful lot of leaves that are not there.”’

While Dykeman said he too was

upset at the removal of the trees, he said he is confident a ‘‘proper screening’’ will be created once the project’s landscaping is com- pleted.

And North Vancouver District Ald. James Cuthbert denied that Dykeman had intentionally misled council.

“The statement that the mayor raisied us is questionable. At the time, I don't think Murray knew the extent of the number of trees that were to come down.”

“The issue was discussed at council and there was an under- standing that some trees had to come down because the road had to go through that area."’

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Second Class Registration Number 3885

Sunday, December 22, 1991 — North Shore News - 3

aa ee 7 NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

WEST VANCOUVER lawyer Gus Kroll is suing a Vancouver physician and the drug company Eli Lilly after he had a bad experience with the anti-depressant drug Prozac.

WY lawyer sues Prozac co.

Claims use of the drug led to nightmare, coma

IN SEPTEMBER 1989, West Vancouver lawyer Gus Kroll was prescribed the drug Prozac by his physician to combat a bout of depression.

1989, Kroll the an-

On Dec. 10, took himse'! off ti-depressant.

The next d:y, Kroll, 62, was admitted to Lions Gate Hospi- tal where he s!ayed more than 80 days in the ¢ sychiatric ward.

According to Kroll, these are the circumstances that led him into a downward spiral of drugs, nightmares and a brief coma.

He is consequently suing a Vancouver physician and the

Prozac manufacturer, Eli Lilly °

Canada Inc. for negligence. Kroll alleges he was Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) had no side ef- fects; while on the drug, he lost 30 pounds, began having nightmares and became sen-

sitive to daylight.

“It struck me that sometising was terribly wrong,’’ he said. “I began to fantasize that { was a messenger from another world coming with great reve-

told:

By Elizabeth Collinas News Reporter

lations. When I was awake I was like in a trance.””

Kroll also suffered cold spells.

“IT was ice-cold to the point where I slept under a down comforter, a sleeping bag, a Hudson's Bay blanket and an electric blanket.”’

Kroll said the day after he stopped taking Prozac, his blood pressure skyrocketed,. leading his wife to take him to hospital where he ended up in the psychiatric ward.

“I did not ask to be put there. | was a person reacting from a powerful drug.”

When he left LGH, Kroll said he was put on a “cocktail’’ of drugs which he eventually decided not to take.

“It was remarkable how quickly { returned to normal.”

While Kroll said his mental and physical health have suf- fered no long-term damage from the experience, he wants to raise awareness of Prozac’s potential side effects.

“I don’t want to overstate my case,’’ he said.

According to an Eli Lilly pamphlet describing Prozac, its side effects may include nausea, nervousness and anxie- ty, insomnia, drowsiness, and headache.

Kroll said that since his discharge from hospital he has read a pamphlet detailing the potential side effects of the drug and that he would not have taken Prozac if he had had such knowledge be- forehand.

Prozac was introduced in Canada in January 1989. More than three million. patients worldwide have taken the drug in three years.

According to a July News story, LGH psychiatry chief Dr. Paul Termansen said he was not aware that any doctors on the North Shore had had an adverse experience with Prozac.

But according to 2a 1990 Wall Street Journal article, Eli Lilly stock plunged following a flurry of U.S. law suits against the drug manufacturer.

Layoffs loom for N. Van shipyard

Allied president

As the job progresses, the work

Superferry decision needed now - ALLIED SHIPBUILDERS Ltd. will have to

lay off

employees if the provincial government does not make a decision soon on the construction of a second S-class

superferry, the president of

company has said.

Allied is currently Duilding the bow section of a $120-million, 470-vehicle superferry commis- sioned by the provincial govern- ment for the B.C. Ferry Corp. (BCFC).

The contract is worth $6 mil- tion.

But Allied president Arthur McLaren said his company will have to start laying Allied workers off if the provincial government decides against building a second superferry.

“We're in jeopardy. There’s currently about 70 to 80 people

the North Vancouver-based

By Surj Rattan News Reporter

involved in building the bow sec- tion of the first superferry,’’ said McLaren. ‘We're committed to

help build the second superferry.””

If no decision on the second superferry is made soon, he said about 20 of the people currently building the bow section of the first superferry will be laid off.

“This (bow section job) will be completed within three months.

will start to taper off,’’ said McLaren. ‘I’m talking to the B.C. Ferry Corp. all the time and they’re dependent on the decision of the provincial government.”*

He added that the BCFC would rather have a second superferry built than have to purchase another vessel for its ferry fleet.

The former Social Credit pro- vincial government hed orginally ordered two superferries. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in February 1993.

But the new NDP provincial government has yet to decide if it wants a second superferry built.

Finance Minister Glen Clark, the minister responsible for the BCFC, did not return News phone calls this week.