MONTREAL — Janet Graham still can’t believe what happened to her last week.
On Friday, she was sitting inside a Premiere Moisson coffee shop on Monkland Boulevard, reading her newspaper.
During a moment of inattention, a pickpocket removed her wallet from her purse.
Her driver’s licence, photos and hundreds of dollars — gone in an instant.
“I let my guard down and I shouldn’t have.”
“Now I feel nervous, it’s very very upsetting,” said Graham.
Stories like Graham’s are becoming pretty common on Monkland Boulevard these days.
In recent weeks, there has been a surge of similar thefts at the nearby Starbucks and the Second Cup Café next door.
On Sunday, a customer at Second Cup also had her purse pickpocketed.
Employee Vanessa Carter told Global News that store staff were warning customers to be careful — to keep valuables out of sight.
“We always tell customers to keep their purses next to them, and not to leave them on the corner of the chairs,” said Carter.
At the Premiere-Moisson coffee shop on Cote-des-Neiges Boulevard, as many as 10 people have had cell phones, laptops, or a smartphone stolen since Christmas.
Graham said she was told by Montreal police the pickpockets could be part of a well-organized network of thieves.
“They told me these people are real pros, they’re very, very, very slick, they know what they’re doing.”
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