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'She can die right now': Couple reportedly robbed at knifepoint

Police Briefs: Man 'performs sexual act' in crowded pool; Partygoers sprayed with bear mace
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A relaxing road trip through B.C. turned into a nightmare last week when a husband and wife were allegedly robbed at knifepoint on the side of Highway 99 by a tow-truck driver and his female passenger.

Business owner Martin Joseph, 36, and his wife, 32-year-old nurse Tracy Chauret, were visiting B.C. from Montreal when they stopped in Whistler on June 6 for a late-night pit stop at a local business before continuing on.

Joseph told Pique that his wife, who has diabetes, found a cellphone in the women's washroom and, suffering from low blood sugar, forgot she had put it in her pocket until they had left. As it was nearly 2 a.m., the couple decided to wait until the morning to notify police of the lost phone and, while stopped on the side of the road north of Whistler preparing to bed down for the night, the suspects reportedly pulled up in a tow truck, outraged.

"(The male suspect) said that it was his girlfriend's cell phone," Joseph said, stressing that his wife made an honest mistake.

"I tried to explain that to him, and said my wife is diabetic. He said, 'I don't care if she's diabetic, she can die right now.'"

Joseph said the man, who appeared to be inebriated at the time and was still in his company uniform, flashed a 45-centimetre-long knife and got away with $800 cash and cigarettes. He also claimed the suspects kicked their vehicle and removed several of the couple's belongings, including a laptop and his wife's insulin medication, and proceeded to drive over it with the tow-truck.

"He destroyed everything," said Joseph, who is considering legal action against the tow-truck company.

A call placed to the tow-truck company's president was not returned by press time.

The suspects, a 22-year-old Whistler man and 23-year-old Kamloops woman, were tracked down only minutes after the incident was reported and subsequently arrested on charges of robbery and uttering threats, police said. They were released with a promise to appear in court on July 28.

Needless to say, the harrowing incident ruined an otherwise pleasant vacation.

"The guy almost killed my wife for a cell phone," Joseph said. "It was pretty stupid."

The above claims have not been proven in court.

Couple reported engaging in 'sexual act' in crowded hotel pool

A couple's amorous encounter was on full display this week after witnesses reported the man and woman engaging in "a sexual act" at a local hotel pool, police said.

Officers were alerted to the indecent act at the village hotel just before 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 7, after two people were observed swimming nude in the pool.

"Witnesses all provided statements stating that these two were causing a disturbance by indecently exposing themselves in a crowded pool full of people," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair.

At one point, the male was allegedly seen "performing a sexual act" on the female, LeClair added.

When reminded by a witness that children were present, the intoxicated male suspect allegedly responded with: "They gotta learn sometime," and proceeded to drop his bath towel "several times," police said, exposing his genitals.

Both suspects, a 28-year-old English man and 29-year-old woman, refused to show their identification and provided false names to police. The man also tried to flee the scene during the investigation, police noted.

It was later discovered that the couple were not guests of the hotel, and had trespassed on the property to access the pool.

They appeared in North Vancouver court on Monday, June 8, facing numerous charges.

Partygoers at Nordic home sprayed with bear mace, police say

There are several responsible ways to deal with noisy neighbours — spraying them with bear mace is certainly not one of them.

Festivities at a party on Nordic Drive were cut short on Sunday after a suspect believed to be a neighbour sprayed the patio with bear mace, police said.

"Nobody inside the residence was directly sprayed but felt the residual spray from the ground level," LeClair said.

A witness told police she observed a man at one point approaching a staircase with a can of mace. When she confronted him, he said he had just finished spraying a raccoon. Another attendee told Pique she heard the male suspect had stopped by earlier in the night to threaten to mace partygoers if the noise persisted.

The suspect is described as being Caucasian, with a beard and long hair tied in a ponytail. The investigation is ongoing.

Man reportedly pushes cop, utters expletive

A Surrey man with a history of assaulting police was arrested early Sunday after he pushed an officer attempting to break up a fight in the village.

Just before 3 a.m., police were conducting patrols on Main Street when an officer noticed several suspects trying to fight another group of males. Two males trying to distance themselves from the fight approached the officer asking for help, at which point the cop put himself between the two sparring groups.

Police said one of the suspects displayed "extremely aggressive and combative behaviour" and threatened to kill one of the two males, who he claimed assaulted his brother.

"As the officer attempted to communicate with the suspect, he violently pushed the officer on his right shoulder while yelling 'I don't give an expletive if you're a cop, I'm going to expletive kill them," LeClair said.

The 22-year-old displayed signs of extreme intoxication, and has been charged in the past with assaulting an officer and uttering threats against police, LeClair noted. He was arrested for assaulting police, obstruction, causing a disturbance and uttering threats.