A shoplifter died today. he went into a well known bc audio store and tried to shoplift. the workers at the store did a citizens arrest and detained the man until police could arrive. unfortunately the shoplifter had a heart attack and died in hospital today. very tragic and very sad. i just wanted to say that it is all bad when an act of crime ends up in a death. I'm sure the shoplifter didn't think that his life would end that way and i'm sure that the workers at the store did'nt know that the conflict would send the shoplifter into cardiac arrest. I figure that i post this today to show that nothing good can come from crime. even something as petty as shoplifting. it ain;t worth dying for.

[ February 13, 2004, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: Team Shadow ]

that sucks...I wonder how the workers feel? probably not very good.....

saw the owner of the store in tears at a press conference. i think i'd panic if that happened to me

I would hope i never....or anyone has to experience what that mst be like but i guess sometimes it happens......

This may raise some eyebrows around here.

I know the kid that was taken off life support today. he was a drug addict and a fulltime thief. Our family have had run ins with him quite a few times. His criminal record is quite extensive in his 22 years.

The Andre`s staff have been cleared from wrong doing or excessive force used in restraining him.

I do feel bad for Andre and his staff as this will affect his business to a point and Andre is a great guy.

What gets me is, what if the cops had been right there as this happened and they restrained him? What if he robbed a bank and was held by staff or customers? How would they play the health concern (heart attack)?Who would be blamed then?

I personally put it to the kids drug abuse and drinking. What about the parents and friends?

Well, the friends should have realized he had a problem, same with the parents. They should have gotten him into a program or even turned him in to get him some help.

I would have liked to see the kid get some jail time and help to clean up, not end his life for a piece of electronics to feed whatever habit he has.

God, if this was a communist country, you would never have heard about this cause it happens all the time. Let it happen in a "civilized" country and you will never hear the end of it.

Now watch for a big lawsuit to follow.I can see it coming.........

[ February 13, 2004, 01:54 AM: Message edited by: Toyrantula ]

this isn't the US, I do not think that a law suit would get too far

i am an employee at , my name is dave oakley, i was just as shocked as everyone when the news came down the young man died. yes, its hard on all of us, especially the family of evan larson. i just wish that evan could have gotten the help he needed to get his life back on track. 22 years old, far to young to have lived through what im sure was a very painful and trying life. andre is a very emotional guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, and i dont know if any of you saw the press conference, but if you did you would know what i mean. unfortunately, due to the ongoing rcmp investigation im not allowed to give details of what happened. in speaking with the two employees involved, they were stunned with what happened, what is really sad is that something like shoplifting can end with the end of a life, truly tragic. im not sure of the lesson to be learned, im sure there is one, its a lesson that i imagine only time will make clear, but for evan......peace brother!

yeah thats not cool at all but sometimes a leeson is only learned through other peoples mistakes. Maybe other shoplifters will see that it's not worth it to try. :(

Sad, but let it be a lesson, don't do drugs, and don't steal.

I find a lot of these comments puzzling. From what I know it was not the act of capture that made the kid have the heart attack. Bad bad coincidence that was triggered by the event but was very likely an eventuality anyway.

I have little remorse for a habitual drug user and thief. I feel bad for his family though.

Dave (defro13), it's Rob Atkinson, I worked for Andre back before you, if you guys are short staffed now due to this incident, tell Jr. that I'll be come up and volunteer my time for a week if he needs it. This must be draining on everyone there.

thanks mr2nr, i'll pass the word on to the big guy, dukk, couldnt have said it any better myself (or did i just) thanks for helping make the "vented boxes in doors" post fun, opinions are like a-holes everyones got one, a fun thread though.

Did you work at Illusions a few years back? The name sounds familiar.

I Love Andreas. Thanx for selling me those wicked AVI components Dave! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I agree partially with Dukk - the heart attack was coming, this was the unfortunate event that triggered it. A 22 year dying of heart attack means something was majorly wrong with him.

However, I personally do not hold the same lack of concern for drug addicts that Dukk has. Drugs suck, and there is no excuse for anyone who starts using them. But once a person is hooked, the drive they have is to satisfy that craving at any cost. They become slaves to their addiction - like an alcoholic who has "a wet brain" - all they think about is how to get more alcohol.

It is sad to see a person who is so trapped by their addiction. They need help and they need help fast. It is sad how they will victimize so many other people in order to feed their addiction.

It is too bad that Andre's was the victim of his petty theft this time. And it is too bad that the circumstances turned out the way that they did. I hope that his business will not hurt from this. I can't understand any persons logic if they would boycott Andre's - what would they say "Don't shop there, they won't let you steal from them" or "Don't shop there, you might die too" - I just can't see how this will affect his business unless a lawsuit follows. And I can't imagine that a lawsuit like that would stand up in a Canadian court.

All the best to Andre's, if I'm ever out West, I'll have to drop in and support his shop.

There is a very similar lawsuit going on in Calgary to this.

Very close to the same situation.
Under the influence of cocaine, and when restrained, it is possible the user can panic to the point of creating their own heart attack. During some sort of altercation with the police, a young man here died of a heart attack while strapped to either a table or a chair. The victims family currently is engaged in a law suit with the Calgary Police Service claiming they are responsible via negligence for their sons death.

cheers brother, thanks for the posiive attitude, if you ever come my way let me know and we will hook up, bidnyk, who are you man, you gotta come by and see the project were working on, very out there, thanks for all you support guys, it doesnt go unnoticed, i promise, yess i did used to work at illusions a while back, great store, good guys, but it was time to move on, keep in touch via pm, ciao

I got the Asuna Sunfire with the RE XXX18 [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
http://www.snowboard.com/members/Pho...tos/207130.JPG

I see a drug user as a drain on society. An example is heroin. Now think aboout this...what does a heroin user do? Thier treatment is payed for by the tax payer, yet they are not paying taxes because they cant hold a job and usually turn to crime in one form or another.

Why doesnt the government pay for a diabetic or hemp-phyliacs presciptions? They pay taxes etc.

Anyways, the thief was violent and combative in his escape attempt once caught. He suffered from lack of oxygen to the brain, basically a shutdown. There are many causes for lack of oxygen to the brain.

The one the media is playing up right now is possibly a choke hold. Real nice of the media to speculate this is the cause.

This is going to cause trouble for Andre and the staff at any store. I can see it coming now.

To bad for them to have to deal with all this attention in the media.

I support Andre`s Audiotronic and whatever the outcome.


you play your cards, you take your chances.

andre is taking a ****kicking in the media today for saying that the rcmp told him that they belive that there was not excessive force used, now the rcmp is denying having said any such thing. why would andre lie, when its such a sensitive situation, escpecailly with so much media attention, sounds like rcmp talking out their ass trying to protect themselves. i stand behind andre and the two employees 110%

The best thing to do in any media situation is to say nothing. The only thing worse than a lawyer is a reporter... [img]graemlins/gunsarecool.gif[/img]

im sure everyone will be very tight lipped now, the only thing worse than a lawyer and a reporter is........ id better not go there.