12 hours Ago By Tyler Searle
Two city shopkeepers remain shaken after staring down the barrel of a gun during a brazen daytime robbery Monday. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Two city shopkeepers remain shaken after staring down the barrel of a gun during a brazen daytime robbery Monday. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Two city shopkeepers remain shaken after staring down the barrel of a gun during a brazen daytime robbery Monday.
One of the employees of Pawn Traders at 1051 McPhillips St. hasn’t returned to work because of the stress of the incident. It’s the latest business to be struck in a wave of retail crime that has gripped Winnipeg for months.
ADAM TREUSCH / FREE PRESS The Pawn Traders on McPhillips Street was robbed by males armed with a gun and a machete on Remembrance Day. “Crime is out of control in this city,” said owner Richard Doering, speaking from his office in the pawn shop Wednesday. “The last few years it has really escalated.
You always heard about the petty crimes, but not this level of violence.” Security footage captured during the robbery, viewed by the , shows four male suspects entering the store around 4:15 p.m.
on Remembrance Day. At least two of the thieves were armed. They immediately leaped over the pawn shop counter.
One of the suspects, who had a red backpack and was wearing navy blue coat with a fur-trimmed hood pulled over his head, aimed a shotgun at the male employees. The other, who wore a white coat with a hood and green latex gloves, held a machete as he ransacked the counter. The remaining suspects, one wearing a black North Face windbreaker and the other in a red plaid jacket, are also on video.
Within two minutes, the thieves were able to break into a safe at the rear of the store and steal a large amount of money and valuables, Doering said. The Winnipeg Police Service issued a news release about the incident Wednesday, saying investigators are still searching for the suspects, who fled in a vehicle with an undisclosed amount of cash and goods before officers arrived. The businessman, who owns two other pawn shops in Winnipeg, was at his Main Street location during the robbery.
He witnessed part of it take place in real-time as he watched remotely from the store’s security cameras, he said. Doering has been in the pawn business for 25 years and said he largely managed to avoid robberies by taking extra precautions such as keeping the doors locked at all times and only opening them for legitimate customers. The thieves circumvented this security measure on Monday by sending one person in first, who briefly pretended to shop before opening the door for his accomplices, Doering said.
He said he is planning to renovate the storefront and install a barrier between the counter and the retail area as an extra layer of safety for employees. Doering said he felt “violated” by the robbery. “These criminals have taken out the 7-Elevens, they’ve taken out the Giant Tiger.
.. now they are running out of stores to hit,” Doering said.
Both companies have closed locations in Winnipeg recently because of soaring crime rates. ADAM TREUSCH / FREE PRESS A sign on the door advises customers they must call to gain entry. Two 7- Eleven stores, located within a few blocks on McPhillips Street, at Selkirk and Mountain avenues, stand as boarded-up, graffiti-covered husks after closing .
Doering said they are a daily reminder of the mounting challenges faced by business owners in the city. “If this happened to me years ago, it might have bankrupted me,” he said, lamenting the cost he and other owners must pay to bolster security. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said a recent survey of Manitoba small business owners found 52 per cent had been directly affected by crime and community safety issues, such as theft and vandalism this year, up from 41 per cent in 2023.
Reports of shoplifting (of items valued under $5,000) jumped by 45 per cent in 2023 compared with 2022, as per data from the Winnipeg Police Service. The trends have prompted police to wage a months-long crackdown on retail crime in hot spots throughout the city. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe in October that 12 city police graduates — funded by the province — would soon join the campaign, which was staffed by officers working overtime since June.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Provincial support for the initiative will continue until at least Dec.
31, and Wiebe hinted it could become a long-term initiative. “This is about transitioning to a more permanent solution and a more permanent program,” he told the Doering said he hopes thieves get the message that retail crime is no victimless. “Why not just get a job and let society be?” he said.
“What would your mother think?” [email protected].
ca Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the ‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the , and before joining the paper in 2022. .
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism.
If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the ‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the , and before joining the paper in 2022. .
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism.
If you are not a paid reader, please consider . Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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