Pawn shop robbed at gunpoint by four men – Winnipeg Free Press

Two shopkeepers who stared down the barrel of a gun during a brazen robbery on Monday are still shaken.

1051 McPhillips St. An employee at Pawn Traders did not return to work due to the stress of the incident.

It’s the latest business to be hit in the retail crime wave that has gripped Winnipeg for months.

“Crime is out of control in this city,” pawnshop owner Richard Doering said Wednesday in his office. “It’s really increased in the last few years. You always hear about petty crime, but you don’t hear about this level of violence.”

Security footage taken during the theft, Free PressIt shows four male suspects entering the store around 4:15 p.m. on Memorial Day.

It was stated that at least two of the thieves were armed. They immediately jumped over the pawnshop counter.

One of the suspects, who had a red backpack, wore a dark blue coat and pulled a fur hoodie over his head, pointed his shotgun at the male employees.

The other, wearing a white hooded jacket 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 wearing a red plaid jacket, are also in the video.

Doering said thieves were able to break into a safe in the back of the store and steal a large amount of cash and valuables within two minutes.

The Winnipeg Police Service issued a news release about the incident on Wednesday, saying investigators were still searching for the suspects, who fled in a vehicle with an undisclosed amount of cash and property before officers arrived.

The businessman, who owns two other pawn shops in Winnipeg, was at his Main Street business at the time of the robbery. He said he witnessed part of the incident happen in real time as he watched from a distance on the store’s security cameras.

Doering, who has been in the pawn business for 25 years, said he has largely been able to prevent robberies by taking extra precautions, such as keeping the doors locked at all times and opening them only to legitimate customers.

Doering said thieves bypassed that security measure Monday by sending in a person who briefly pretended to shop before opening the door for his accomplices.

He said he plans to renovate the store’s facade 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 took over 7-Elevens, they took over Giant Tiger… they don’t have any stores to attack anymore,” Doering said.

Both companies have recently closed their locations in Winnipeg due to rising crime rates.

Two 7-Eleven stores a few blocks away on McPhillips Avenue at Selkirk and Mountain avenues remain boarded-up, graffiti-covered shells after closing last month. Doering said they are a daily reminder of the increasing challenges facing business owners in the city.

“If this had happened to me years ago, it would have bankrupted me,” he said, lamenting the cost he and other property owners had to pay to improve security.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business found in a recent survey of small business owners in Manitoba that 52 per cent are 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 (items valued under $5,000) increased by 45 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, according to data from the Winnipeg Police Service.

These trends led to a months-long police crackdown on retail crime in hotspots across the city.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe approved In October, it was reported that 12 state-funded city police graduates would soon join the campaign, which has been staffed by officers who have been working overtime since June.

State support for the initiative will continue until at least December 31, and Wiebe has signaled that this could be a long-term initiative.

“This is about moving to a more permanent solution and a more permanent program,” he said. Free Press.

Doering said he hopes thieves get the message that retail crimes are not victimless.

“Why don’t you get a job and leave society alone?” he said. “What would your mother think?”

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Tyler Searle
Correspondent

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer. Free Presscity ​​table. He graduated from Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program. Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record And Express Weekly News before joining the newspaper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

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