Businesses in Calgary’s Chinatown neighbourhood are concerned after a rise in commercial crime in the area.
Police said at around 4:20 p.m. on Monday, four people entered Dragon City Mall at 327 Centre St. S.E. and deployed four smoke devices into the west side of the mall.
According to police, the suspects then forced their way into a jewelry shop inside the mall, smashed the display cases and stole an undisclosed amount of jewelry.
The suspects also deployed bear spray into the hallways of the mall and one of the suspects also “brandished” a handgun before leaving the area in a 2020-23 metallic silver Volkswagen Atlas, police said.
Firefighters were seen airing the interior out on Monday.
Police said they believe the attack was targeted and asked anyone with information to call 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers. Officers are also looking for dashcam footage from anyone who drove along Fourth Avenue Southeast along Macleod Trail Southeast and First Street Southwest around 4:20 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tom Lee, owner of Lee’s Oriental Arts Ltd., has been a shop owner in Dragon City Mall for around 25 years. He said he heard two loud booms and saw smoke filling the hallways shortly after. The smoke was so thick he couldn’t see what was in front of him.
Lee then quickly closed up the shop before heading outside with his wife. Police and emergency crews arrived around 10 to 20 minutes later.
“I don’t know what exactly happened but (when we were let back in) I saw broken glass and trash everywhere. The owner (of the jewelry store) was shocked. She didn’t know what to do,” Lee told Global News Tuesday.
“Everything happened very fast.”
But crime isn’t a new problem in Chinatown. Lee said business owners in the area have had problems with troublemakers for a long time.
“It’s very tough now in Chinatown. There are many homeless people in Chinatown, and Chinatown is already dead. You see the second floor of the mall? The older stores are closed because there is no business,” he said.
“When people come in, they’re scared that a homeless person will come and steal your money or your things.”
Thomas Chow is the owner of Golden Optical and has been in Dragon City Mall for almost 29 years. He said this is the first time he’s ever seen an event of this magnitude inside the mall, but he’s had issues with people trying to steal eyeglasses from his store in the past.
He said he’s raised safety concerns with a security committee in the neighbourhood, which police officers are a part of.
“I suggested that we put CCTV outside the mall so we can see if anything suspicious is happening,” he said.
“Police won’t come in. Supposedly the car patrolling outside will catch a lot of suspicious activity. But not many police come to Chinatown, and if they do it’s just cruisers passing by.
“Even if we have some police in the building it will make a difference.”
Ward 7 Coun. Terry Wong said he’s met with investigators and business owners following the robbery and wants more foot patrol in the area.
“The issue of crime and safety in Chinatown has escalated to the point that we’ve got a lot of comments and concerns about what Calgary police is doing about it,” he told Global News.
Comments