Police nab two suspects after mom-and-pop shops robbed

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This article was published 08/02/2023 (1319 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lisa Le has been stressed out since thieves smashed into her Pembina Highway restaurant and made off with cash and debit machines.

Police went to her home to deliver the news after being alerted by the alarm company early Friday.

“They stole all the cash. They broke the cash register and took all the money, and then they took all the debit machines and tapless (payment systems),” Le said.

Le’s daughter went to the Momo Japanese and Korean Restaurant at 2855 Pembina Hwy., and saw that the glass door had been shattered. Her daughter and a friend spent the morning cleaning up.

The thieves made off with just $140, Le said. The plywood they bought for the doorway cost about $300.

“Now I’m looking for someone to replace the glass, but it’s going to cost more than $1,000, for sure,” Le said.

It brought her some comfort to find out Wednesday that two suspects had been charged with the crime.

They are also accused of breaking into five other small businesses on the same stretch of Pembina Highway.

On Tuesday, police were called to a break-in on the 2700 block of Pembina. Two suspects, who had two stolen cash registers, were found nearby.

Investigators linked the suspects to other recent break-ins, Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said.

Police got search warrants for the two men’s homes and seized stolen property, they said.

A total of $1,290 in cash was stolen in the six incidents, but each business was damaged.

“We’re talking (about) people that are citizens of our community that have businesses they own and operate,” Chancy said.

“This is not only a hit to them personally, it’s a hit to their bottom line. We take all these (crimes) very seriously.”

Dustin Tommy Hatcher, 38, has been charged with five counts of break-enter-and-theft and one count of failing to comply with a probation order.

Court records show he has a lengthy criminal record, with convictions dating back to 2002, including thefts and break-and-enters, as well as two assaults and weapons offences.

He was most recently convicted of break-enter-and-theft and theft under $5,000 in March 2020 and was sentenced to 270 days in jail.

In May 2021, he was convicted of being unlawfully at large and ordered to serve 24 days.

Bradian Joseph Michael Zayonce, 21, is charged with six counts of break-enter-and-theft, one count of break-and-enter with intent and possession of break-in instruments.

While he has no criminal convictions, records show Zayonce was recently charged with 12 counts of break-enter-and-theft and one count of forgery.

Both accused were detained in custody.

The arrests have alleviated Le’s fear of another break-in.

“I was so concerned, what if we replaced (the door) and it happened again?” she said

The loss of the two debit machines and other payment systems have been irksome.

“It’s really hard for (staff),” she said. “Now they do everything manually… some customers, they say, ‘Why is it so slow?’”

She and her husband, who had worked for the previous owners, bought the restaurant last June.

It’s been going well, but the break-in has compounded Le’s stress.

“Every day I have to call many, many companies to see how to replace the debit machines, how to replace the tapless (payment system), call the police, talk with the police, teach our server,” Le said.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera