PUT IN PERIL, 2 SAY

Mechanics Critical Of Mounties

TWO MECHANICS are questioning RCMP procedures that had them working in Jim
Roszko's Quonset when he was missing and only hours before he killed four
Mounties. "I talked to them all and six hours later they were dead," said
Bruce Pearce, one of several civilians at the site early Thursday when
police were still searching for Roszko.

"I was thinking, 'S--t, I could have been one of them. Jim Roszko could
have been 100 yards away.' "

Kenny Poeter, another mechanic called to the site to help police remove
stolen vehicles, agreed. "It was pretty scary," he said. Jim Roszko --
well-known in the area as a violent, cop-hating loner -- shocked a nation
into mourning March 3 when he ambushed and cut down four RCMP officers with
a high-powered rifle, the worst tragedy in modern RCMP history.

But the tragic event hadn't yet happened when Pearce's employer called him
about 12:15 a.m. Thursday, saying they were going to help RCMP recover some
stolen property. The two picked up Poeter on the way to Roszko's.

They drove in the front gate -- with no sign of a spike belt -- and went
right to the Quonset.

Both men describe a Spartan, untidy interior with a sandy floor and
unadorned walls.

The Quonset held two pick-up trucks, a truck box full of vehicle parts, a
generator, a racing quad, a garden tractor, a dirt bike, piles of tires and
bags of fertilizer. Hand tools were strewn on the floor, with no sign of
any heavy equipment.

Several water tanks, more than two metres tall, stood near Roszko's
marijuana grow-op, which was blocked off from the rest of the Quonset by
walls of plywood and polyethylene sheeting.

The plants, rooted in soil, were brightly lit by large bulbs. About 20
plants had just been freshly harvested, Pearce said.

"It just stunk (in the grow-op) like you wouldn't believe," he said.
"Thirty seconds and my head was starting to pound."

The three began loading the stolen property onto trailers and tow trucks.
Pearce said a fourth civilian joined them to work on the farm's power supply.

Meanwhile, Pearce said eight to 10 RCMP officers were on the site. A couple
began dismantling the grow-op, others were standing outside and others were
searching Roszko's home.

Pearce said police gave them no indication the assignment was any more
dangerous than any other repossession, although Pearce said his boss told
him Roszko was at large.

'I Felt Safe'

"I guess I felt safe, but I was nervous," he said. "Nobody knew where
(Roszko) was, he could have been anywhere.

"We just basically wanted to get loaded up and get out."

As the crew was preparing to leave some time after 2 a.m., one officer
spotted a light in a nearby field, Poeter said. Police then escorted the
three back to town, Poeter said.

It wasn't until later that day that they heard of the RCMP killings.

"In retrospect, I don't think anybody was safe (out there) that night. They
didn't know where he was.

"Do I think we should have been there? No.

"What I'd like to see come out of this is that civilians aren't involved
until the person is in custody."