Renewed calls to curb repeat break-ins

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This article was published 02/08/2023 (1120 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tommy’s Pizzeria’s latest thief had time to sit inside and have a drink.

“Luckily they didn’t break the glass,” said Thomas Schneider, the restaurant’s owner.

Smashed windows usually cost him $3,500 to $4,000, he said. Early Saturday morning, during the restaurant’s most recent break-in, a thief stole open bottles of alcohol.

It’s probably the seventh break-in in less than three years, Schneider said.

“I’m getting tired of it,” he added, frustration in his voice. “I respect the police, I know they’re understaffed… (but) they’re not able to respond to our calls when we’re getting broken into, or even days after.”

He joins a growing number of business owners calling for solutions to repeated break-ins and property damage.

Last month, the owner of Corrientes Argentine Pizzeria spoke out about feeling abandoned, dealing with a string of burglaries.

Video footage the Free Press viewed shows someone sitting at Tommy’s Pizzeria’s bar just before 1 a.m. Saturday. The restaurant is dark — it closed at 11 p.m.

Schneider, 32, said he called police to come to the restaurant Saturday morning but was declined. He’s spoken to officers over the phone, but not in person, he added Wednesday.

A thief hasn’t been arrested; the investigation is ongoing, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Ally Siatecki wrote in a statement.

“I’ve learned my lesson. The first couple times I had money in the tills, and I had fancy alcohol on the shelves.”–Thomas Schneider

Schneider estimates a loss of $35,000 to $40,000 over the past 3.5 years due to theft and property damage at Tommy’s Pizzeria.

“I’ve learned my lesson,” he said. “The first couple times I had money in the tills, and I had fancy alcohol on the shelves.”

No more. The crimes — which have seemingly increased since the pandemic, Schneider and others in the industry said — come after pandemic-era closures and a period of high inflation.

“I’ve remortgaged my house twice,” Schneider stated, adding it’s to keep the Corydon Avenue restaurant afloat.

He wants more police and police resources, a detoxification centre in Winnipeg, jail space — something to rein in the crime businesses have been facing.

‘No consequences’

“People have no consequences,” said Ravi Ramberran, owner of the Four Crowns Restaurant, who joined Schneider on a call Wednesday.

“I think our governments need to listen very, very carefully and understand that it’s not a good climate to do business in right now,” Ramberran said, adding he can’t count the number of times something is destroyed or damaged when he gets to work.

He underwent a slew of break-ins last year. Now, the overnight damage happening is “outrageous,” he said.

The Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association is calling for “immediate solutions” to criminal activity, said CEO Shaun Jeffrey.

The association will meet with Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen next week.

“We really just… wanted to bring to light the challenges that we continuously are seeing in our industry,” Jeffrey said.

Manitoba has made announcements about reducing and preventing crime, but the restaurant industry is “not seeing any real measurable changes” and would like clarification on how such announcements will impact their companies, Jeffrey said.

“Some of the businesses that I’m talking about are seeing a doubling and tripling in the amount of incidences,” he added. “It’s very hard to run a business in Winnipeg right now.”

Six break-ins at music venue

The private sector’s frustration extends beyond the restaurant sphere. The West End Cultural Centre has been broken into and/or stolen from six times in less than a week, said Jorge Requena Ramos, the centre’s artistic director.

The first incident happened last Thursday. Four iPads were stolen, but they could be located via tracking app, Requena Ramos said.

“We’ve continued to get broken into by, it seems like, the same group of people,” he said.

It took days before a forensics specialist from the police force arrived at the cultural centre, and the iPads hadn’t been retrieved as of Wednesday, Requena Ramos stated. The WPS didn’t immediately respond to questions about the incident.

“We would hope that, at least with the amount of city budget that goes to (the police), that at least they’re going to show up and investigate in a timely manner,” Requena Ramos said. “We’re not feeling like we’re paying for a service and we’re getting it.”

“We would hope that, at least with the amount of city budget that goes to (the police), that at least they’re going to show up and investigate in a timely manner.”–Jorge Requena Ramos

The Winnipeg Police Service budget exceeded $300 million in 2022.

Between the six incidents, damages could be “in the thousands,” Requena Ramos said. He added that jail isn’t the answer; the West End Cultural Centre is “very conscious” that the thieves are likely experiencing poverty.

Police response times vary by event, Siatecki from the WPS wrote in an email. An incident’s urgency, plus the weekday and the time, can impact response times, she added.

“Prioritization of events is done at the Call Taker level based on what is occurring at the time of the call,” Siatecki wrote. “Higher priorities are given to calls where preservation of life is a factor.”

Winnipeg police will respond to two-zone alarm activations — where intruders have set off alarms, or cut lines, in two separate areas of a business — after the alarm monitoring company has attempted to verify criminal activity by calling the premises or occupant, Siatecki wrote.

Shoplifting, vandalism at salon

Regan Bueti, owner of the Style Bar in Osborne Village, hasn’t experienced a break-in during her 10 years of occupancy.

However, shoplifting and vandalism are regular occurrences, she said.

“I know some stores are going to doorbell and locked door policies,” Bueti said. “I’ve thought about it as well.”

She became used to the system during pandemic-era restrictions, allowing just four people into her shop at a time.

Doorbells, video cameras, retractable gates — all come at a cost to businesses, Bueti noted.

“I think it’s a deeper issue. I feel like there’s not much I can do about it.”–Regan Bueti

“I don’t know what the solution is. I think it’s a deeper issue,” she said. “I feel like there’s not much I can do about it.”

Minister Goertzen, who was not available for an interview Wednesday, will listen to proposals addressing restaurant industry issues during next week’s meeting, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

The provincial government recently announced support for more than 1,600 addictions treatment spaces across Manitoba and has “adequate space to allow for more arrests and detentions,” the provincial spokesperson continued.

Crime charges have jumped year-over-year. The WPS clocked 48,769 property crimes the 12 months ending in April 2023, up from 42,090 the year prior.

Overall, the WPS tracked 67,953 crimes for the year ending in April 2023. The same time period, ending April 2022, saw 58,985 reported crimes.

Pre-pandemic — the 12 months ending in April 2019 — saw 62,984 crimes.

Winnipeg is not alone in experiencing an uptick in crime against business, said Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

“The more I talk to my counterparts in Canada, the United States and elsewhere — this is a global issue,” he said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.