DRUGS HURTING SYDNEY DISTRICT, MAN SAYS

SYDNEY - A man who watched as a suspected armed robber kept police at
bay for 16 hours says his neighbourhood has changed from a quiet
residential area to one beset by drugs.

"Nobody feels comfortable and safe now with so much going on," said
the man, who raised his family in the neighbourhood. He did not want
to be identified for fear of "being burned out" of his home of over 30 years.

"It's frightening," he said of the armed standoff Friday that
included police lobbing tear gas several times into an apartment at
the small brown house at 43 Forrest St. in Sydney.

Police cordoned off the area and told people to leave their homes.
About 30 officers, including a team of hostage negotiators and the
canine unit, were on the scene all day. No shots were fired, said
Sgt. Walter Rutherford of Cape Breton Regional Police.

It was only one of a long list of recent drug-related occurrences in
the neighbourhood, including suspicious fires at two area homes this summer.

"These people get on drugs and they don't care what they are doing -
that's the root of the problem," the neighbourhood resident said. He
added that his neighbours said police lured the man out of the house
by promising that a box containing drugs would be left on the steps.

"I guess his drugs were starting to run and he was getting desperate.
He was looking for drugs," the man said.

Sgt. Rutherford, who spoke with reporters Saturday, wouldn't comment
on what took place during the negotiations. But he said the suspect
did not surrender voluntarily.

"He wasn't co-operative during the arrest, so he was arrested with
force," Sgt. Rutherford said.

The suspect was taken to the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, where he
was seen by a doctor and released into police custody, the officer said.

Police said he and another man were fleeing from police after two
early-morning armed robberies at Needs convenience stores on George
and Prince streets in Sydney.

The two store clerks were uninjured, but shaken up by the robberies,
Sgt. Rutherford said.

One man was arrested near the Forrest Street apartment a short time
later, while the other barricaded himself in the apartment, police
said. Officers said they recovered money, a 12-gauge sawed-off
shotgun and a vehicle.

[Name redacted], 33, of Eskasoni and [Name redacted], 20, of Sydney
have been charged with armed robbery and several weapons-related offences.

Both men were remanded to the Cape Breton Correctional Centre. They
will appear in Sydney provincial court Tuesday morning.