Oh, Canada!

A forum to discuss local issues in Canada.
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Tombstone
Posts: 3686
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:00 pm

Oh, Canada!

Post by Tombstone »

High speed chase heading towards Canadian border prompts 20 Canadian guards to run away? What?

I had absolutely no idea that Canada's Border Guards are un-armed! I don't mean to offend, but that's really funny.

Man Caught After Chase At Border Held On $2M Bail

POSTED: 7:47 am PST January 26, 2006

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Bail has been set at $2 million for one of two men sought in a California homicide, and the other has been released from a hospital and jailed following a chase that ended in a shootout at the U.S.-Canada border.

Jose Antonio Barajas, 22, of Mexico, and Ishtiaq Hussain, 38, of Pakistan, were arrested Tuesday after a car pursued by a Whatcom County sheriff's deputy accelerated to 100 mph, drove through a spike strip designed to flatten the tires, failed to stop at a border checkpoint and tore into Peace Arch Park.

On Wednesday a Whatcom County Superior Court judge set Barajas' bail at $1 million for a fugitive warrant from California and another $1 million for investigation of two counts of first-degree assault and one of eluding law enforcement. Hussain's bail hearing was pending.

They had been sought in the shooting death of Ashok Malhotra, 43, on Saturday in an apartment in Richmond, Calif., and police believed they might try to flee the country. Two Richmond detectives have been sent to interview the pair and begin extradition proceedings, Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan told The Contra Costa Times newspaper.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent fired his gun, wounding Hussain, and a sheriff's deputy blocked the fleeing vehicle with his squad car. The crossing, the busiest on the northern border west of Detroit, was closed for more than 10 hours as traffic was diverted to another crossing a mile to the east.

The vehicle had been reported stolen in the San Francisco Bay area, Gagan said.

About 20 Canadian border guards, who are unarmed, fled for safety as the chase neared the border, an official of the union representing the guards confirmed.

A prominent member of Canada's incoming Conservative government said the party will stand behind its promise to arm the country's border guards.

Vic Toews, who will soon be a part of the government after serving as opposition justice critic in the Canadian parliament, said he did not relish the sight of border guards leaving their posts, although managers took over and officials insisted that security was never compromised.

Steve Pellerin-Fowlie, vice president of the Customs Excise Union, told The Canadian Press about 20 guards were involved. He welcomed the move to provide border guards with firearms.

Canada's labor code gives workers the right to refuse to remain on the job if they feel they are in imminent danger.

"What we've been calling for years is the tools that will provide the maximum amount of safety possible," Pellerin-Fowlie said.
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chonsigirl
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Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:28 am

Oh, Canada!

Post by chonsigirl »

I know, you thought they would have headed south...................
koan
Posts: 16817
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2004 1:00 pm

Oh, Canada!

Post by koan »

I was working by that border a few months ago and noticed a Canadian guard holding a mirror and practicing dirty looks.
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