Couple suspected of selling fake jewelry in Fraser Lake

A pair of fraud artists may have struck Fraser Lake.

RCMP in the community said Friday they have received several complaints of a couple claiming to be from out of town approaching people on the street asking for cash to pay for food and gas and offering to sell them jewelry in return.

“The jewelry had no markings except for the rings which have a number signifying the karat of gold. It is after the purchase that the victims discover the jewelry to be fake,” RCMP said.

It is believed the man and woman are travelling in a black Kia SUV but the licence plate number is unknown.

“The suspects did state that they needed money to return home to Ontario,” RCMP said. Anyone with information on who they may be and where they can be found is asked to call the Fraser Lake RCMP at 250-699-7777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. the parking lot of a local business shortly before noon, RCMP said they located the suspect in the College Heights area a short time later, only to see him speed away.

With the help of a police helicopter, police said they followed from a safe distance as he headed north on Ospika. Several minutes later, plainclothes police officers attempted to box the truck in and, in an attempt to evade his captors, RCMP said he subsequently collided with a civilian vehicle and an unmarked police truck. The drivers of both those vehicles suffered minor injuries, police said. A 34-yearold local man, who RCMP said is well known to the police, was arrested and taken into custody. His name was not released. KAMLOOPS (CP) — A professor who was suspended from a B.C. university after speaking out against the publication of research in journals that are not peer reviewed will be resuming his job next month.

Prof. Derek Pyne of Thompson Rivers University questioned the practice followed by some professors who publish their work in so-called predatory journals, arguing they get ahead despite inadequate research.

Pyne was banned from campus in May and has been on an unpaid suspension for his feedback on a colleague who was being considered for a position at the university in Kamloops.