Times Advocate, 1994-01-26, Page 3THF,.NF_WS
Tines -Advocate, January 26, 1994
Page 3
Smash 'n Grab crimes plague owners of local .stores
or Continued from front page
When asked how they did it so
quickly, they confessed they simply
went to a large apartment building,
and got the superintendent to put
out the word they had "cheap cigar-
ettes" for sale. At $25 a canon,
$1,500 worth sold in no time, said
Borden.
Why will people readily buy
what they suspect to be stolen?
Aske from being addictive, cigar-
etteS are quickly consumed, hard to
trace, would be purchased anyway,
- and most of all - are highly taxed.
"Everybody justifies it because
they see it as a tax revolt," said
Borden, pointing out that those
promised "cheap cigarettes" won't
ask if they were stolen from a va-
riety store the night before. Per-
haps they prefer to imagine they
were smuggled across the border.
The best deterrents ..to cigarette
theft, said Borden, is to discourage
the crime in the first place. The
OPP believes most of these in-
cidents occur after the criminals
drive around looking for likely tar-
gets.
Police have been recommending
store owners not display large
quantities of cigarettes at all, hide
away or lock away what they have
at night, and make it difficult to
break in anditake a getaway with-
in those critical first few minutes.
"The stores that took that se-
riously, if they've bit hit, they've
only been hit once," said orden.
Once a gang comes up a ty, they
don't come back.
Once robbed, Borden ac -
Objects of desire, cigarettes are a tempting item for thieves. Easy to steal, and easy to sell
for a good price, the growing number of smash 'n grab thefts has led some store owners to
wonder if -itis worth selling cigarettes at all.
knowledges it is difficult to com-
plete an investigation. Cartons
stamped with a store number can be
helpful, only if the evidence is
found.
"If you don't catch them within a
day or two, you almost have to wait
until the next time," he said.
it all comes ,back to , revention.
The gangs usually come from near-
by cities, some from London, some
elsewhere.
"We did have some working out
of Kitchener -Waterloo in the past
few years," said Borden, noting that
the distances criminals are willing
to travel these days came as a sur-
prise to law enforcement circles.
There are some local thieves trying
their hands at smash 'n grabs, "but
you can usually tell the difference."
"The only way were going to cut
down on these smash 'n grabs is for
store owners to take as many pre-
ventative measures as they can af-
ford," said Borden.
The latest store hit in a smash 'n
grab was Doug and Nancy's Gener-
al Store in Dashwood, ontyitltl5
past�Thursday.
e're certainly going to get
Red book grant plan revealed
Government will pay, but can we play?
CLINTON - Monday 'afternoon,
MPP Paul Klopp's office released
the figures for what local munici
palities can expect to receive . in
grants under the joint federal/
provincial job creation plan.
Touted by Prime Minister Jean
Chretien as part of his "red book"
plan to put Canadians back to
work, the two-year plan aims to
spend about $6 billion across the
country, divided up three ways be-
tween the federal government,
province, and municipality.
The provincial government is for-
warding its third of the funds
through its jobsOntario Capital pro-
gram.
The town of Exeter will have ac-
cess to $526,679 in combine .fed-
eral/provincial grants, provided it
can come up with the $263,339 to
match its third of the bargain.
How would Exeter spend
$790,018? When the question was
put to reeve Bill Mickle Monday
evening, he said the town can use
the funds only for projects not al-
ready on schedule for the next two
years. That may mean bringing
forward a capital project frbm the
five-year plan, or starting some-
thing new.
While it might be used for im-
proving or re-routing sewer lines,
Mickle would not rule out the pos-
sibility of using the funds to reno-
vate the old town hall, rebuild the
library, or deal with other munici-
pal building problems now coming
to a head.
"The best thing to use it on is pro-
jects on which the change of get-
ting government assistance was
very low," said Mickle. "There
may be an opportunity to maximize
renovations under this kind of pro-
gram."
Can all Ontario municipalities af-
ford to come up with their third of
the grant total? Mickle suspects
many may not be able to rise to the
occasion. /-
"Some of the large municipali-
ties, like Metro Toronto, may have
difficult," he said. "You're talkiog
milliofts and millions."
l xeter's share of the grant total is
based somewhat on population.
Goderich, for instance is entitled to
about twice as much, for a total of
$1.58 million. However, Wing -
ham, with its smaller population,
qualifies for a total of $792,259.
"I think what there is is a factor
on unemployment," said Mickle,
noting the main thrust of the pro-
gram is to create jobs through capi-
tal infrastructure projects.
Of the $7.6 million allocated by
the federal and provincial govern-
ments to Huron County projects
(for a grand total of 511.4 million),
some $1.9 million is earmarked for
Huron County use ($2.8 million to-
tal).
The Village of Hensall can have
access to $$121,405 in grants, pro-
vided it come up with its $60,702
third. Zurich will be entitled to
grants of $66,385. Hay Township
is eligible for $180,217, Usborne
Township for $80,686, Stephen
Township $307,087, and Stanley
Township $252,143 - all provided
they contribute their thirds of the
agreement.
In addition, the Huron County
Board of Education has been ear-
marked for up to $1,049,609 in
grants, and the Huron -Pert Roman
Catholic Separate School Board
can receive $416,877.
Mickle said he understood 85
percent of the funding was being
directed at municipalities, and the
remaining 15 percent at education
boards, universities and colleges.
more security," said Nancy Nutt,
surveying the damage to the store's
front door.
Living upstairs, she heard the
burglar, who appears to have been
alone, roaming around the store,
and called police.
"There was no damage other than
the door, but that all comes out of
our pocket," she said, noting in-
surance deductibles are high
enough to make a claim worthless.
This was the second time their
store was hit in 35 days. The last
time, the thief got away with about
$500 worth of cigarettes; this time,
surprised by police, he got nothing.
"It's hard on a person. You can't
sleep at night. You hear every-
thing," said Nutt. "I'm ready to do
anything I have to to keep them
out."
Security measures' may include
alarm sensors, more bars for the
doors and windows, maybe un-
breakable glass.
"It's a shame we're going to have
to go that way," she said, but
agreed that might be preferable to
Doug's suggestion that they simply
stop cigarettes altogether, as did
one Hensall gas bar after one too
many break-ins.
Dave Holtzmann of Holtzmann's
IGA in Exeter said his store has
only been hit once in a smash 'n
grab. That was enough. Security
experts from Toronto advised an
alarm system that automatically
calls police, and a pair of metal
cabinets in which to lock up all the
store's cigarettes.
Holtzmann said the measures ap-
pear to be effective. Forcing
thieves to take longer at the scene
to complete their crime is an ef-
fective deterrent, tic says.
"They need a heG'k of a lot longer
than a minute to get into one of
those cabinets," said Holtzmann.
The cabinets cost $900 each, but
have quickly paid for themselves in
insurance -premium reductions, and
sinneeded deductibles.
!Nevertheless, Holtzmann said he
is considering locking away the
store's lottery tickets after a recent
robbery at another local store.
When will it end'? he wonders.
A Saturday in the dance studio
Jennifer Weigand is
teaching five classes of
dance instruction at the
Dashwood Community
Centre unpfi May, with
students aged 3,to 15.
Above, Weigand aleft) has
the set for class 1"at the
bar". Above right,
beginners Heidi Klopp and
Becki Dietrich share a fun
moment hile leaming to
da ogether.
Below left, Weigand gives
pointers to Becca Rykeman
while Janelle Duran
watches closely.
At right,.Welgand faces a
challenge to keep short
attention spans focused at
the end of the 3.4 year old
class. •
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