Winnipeg restaurant hosting social to help cover cost of break-ins

A string of break-ins at Four Crowns Restaurant and Bar on McPhillips Street has the owner asking for help in covering the cost of the damage and keeping his business afloat.

In an attempt to raise money, Ravi Ramberran is holding a fundraising event in a way Manitobans know best — a social.

Earlier this August the business had two break-ins in just one day. Less than a week later, arsonists targeted his restaurant a third time.

“It sucks to wake up and get calls from police at four in the morning saying, ‘you need to get down here,'” Ramberran says. “Then you get down here and you’re like, ‘Aw man, there goes this weeks money’ – but over and over again.”

According to the Winnipeg police crime map, by April of this year, 118 non-violent crimes have happened in the Mynarski ward, the neighbourhood Four Crowns is in. The map shows crime in the ward has climbed each year since 2019, when 91 non-violent crimes took place.

Global News has reached out to Ross Eadie, councillor for the Mynarski ward, for comment on local crime but did not receive a response by publication.

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Ramberran says it’s not just his building that’s been hit. He says his staff have also been targeted.

“The same group that targeted our staff about a month ago, they didn’t steal anything or want anything – they just came and pepper sprayed (a staff member) at two in the morning, you know, just for the hell of it,” he says.

His security camera showed a group of young people as the arsonists causing damage to windows, but they’ve never been caught.

The cost of the incidents are adding up, he says.

“Man it’s tough to make a buck here, you know. It’s COVID and food prices and everything is going up, our insurance skyrocketed, like everything.”

He’s out thousands of dollars and hopes a social will help cover some of the repair expenses.

“I’m out five-grand this week from windows and now I’m looking at replacing all of them which is going to be like, $25,000.”

The event will be held at Four Crowns on Sept. 9. Tickets can be found on their Facebook page.

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