Frustrated business owners fed up by break-ins joining forces

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This article was published 12/09/2022 (1137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Leah Ann Pedersen was ready to call it quits after two break-ins at her hair salon and other challenges that come with running a small business.

After salons were forced to close for months due to COVID-19 rules, the owner of Studio 727 was getting back on her feet when her shop on McPhillips Street, just south of Burrows Avenue, was broken into for the first time in its 20 years.

Coupled with a second burglary two months later, she was left almost $8,000 out of pocket after replacing broken windows and blinds, losing merchandise to thieves and installing security coverings.

“It’s frustrating. I grew up with the mentality and morals that if it’s not yours, you don’t touch,” said Pedersen, 46, whose business is one of several in the area to be targeted by vandals and thieves in recent months. “I can’t close shop because I can’t afford to. I have a mortgage and bills to pay.”

Fed up with robberies, break-ins and property crime, business owners on a stretch of McPhillips are meeting Friday to discuss their concerns and potential solutions.

They want to form an alliance to promote, protect and support each other.

Members of the Winnipeg Police Service have been invited to attend, said Ravi Ramberran, who owns the Four Crowns hotel, restaurant and bar on McPhillips.

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski) said he has invited representatives of the Winnipeg Police Board and other business improvement zones to share their experiences.

“The more people stay on top of it and network, the more we can keep watch over each other,” said Eadie. “It’s just like residents. Sometimes, you’re isolated and there’s no communication between, in this case, businesses experiencing similar problems.”

Ramberran is spearheading the effort, after his restaurant was broken into three times in a week last month.

If they don’t band together, he fears the situation will get worse.

Crime will scare customers away, bring down property values and lead to higher insurance costs, he said.

After the third break-in, Ramberran hired overnight security. He hasn’t had any trouble since then.

“We’ve been on high alert,” he said.

Ramberran and Pedersen are frustrated by Canada’s so-called catch-and-release justice system, arguing the penalties for property crime offenders don’t go far enough.

“They come and do as they please, and there are zero repercussions for their behaviour,” said Pedersen. “They know they can get away with it. The justice system needs to change. People need to be held accountable.

“If we don’t get help and somebody is not accountable for their behaviour, what is the point?”

With a municipal election less than two months away, Pedersen and Ramberran want Winnipeg’s next mayor and council to make crime prevention and public safety an even bigger priority.

“Unless somebody… starts addressing the problem, how is it going to go away? It’s only going to get worse,” said Pedersen.

She believes crime is a “huge problem” in the city, and more needs to be done to address the root causes.

The first break-in at her salon happened around 4 a.m. over the September long weekend in 2021.

Surveillance video showed a young woman hurling a brick through a window, and then climbing up to steal more than $500 worth of hair products, said Pedersen.

The thief filled a laundry basket she was carrying, while a man acted as a lookout.

It was enough damage to hurt the business, but not enough for insurance to help, given the $1,000 deductible, said Pedersen.

No one was arrested for the crime.

Late one night in November 2021, a man tossed a shovel through a front window and went inside, after trying to get in through a back window.

Police followed footprints in the snow and arrested a suspect a couple of blocks away.

An officer told Pedersen the burglar broke in because he was looking for a lighter.

After rummaging through a front desk, he left without finding one or taking anything, she said.

Pedersen again faced a $1,000 insurance deductible.

She expressed frustration with the system, saying businesses must have insurance to operate, but pay “through the nose” for policies and deductibles.

It’s like being victimized again, she said.

Pedersen felt the same way when she learned a few months later the suspect in the second break-in was arrested for an unrelated incident.

She and Ramberran learned they aren’t alone after he spoke to reporters about the trio of break-ins at his restaurant.

Other business owners spoke to them about falling victim to hold-ups, overnight burglaries and smashed windows.

Pedersen said one business has had seven incidents since the spring.

“I was pretty surprised to find out I wasn’t alone, and how often it’s happening to other people,” said Ramberran. “It turns out they’re hitting everybody in the neighbourhood. The reality is these kids are having zero punishment.”

Police informed him a minor was arrested for breaking into his restaurant.

“The officer said (the suspect) likely won’t be detained for long,” said Ramberran. “They’re arresting the same people over and over. The same criminals are not getting any consequences.”

Police spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said the incidents at Four Crowns are still under investigation by the major crimes unit.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching