Fed up Moncton business owner creates ‘Wall of Shame’ with photos of alleged thieves

Business owner Damien Beaman is fed up with the frequent thefts that have been occurring at his business on Millennium Boulevard, near downtown Moncton.

He’s put up multiple security cameras, an alarm system, and put metal bars over all the windows of his waterproofing and concrete repair business’ office.

“In the last 12 months it’s gotten a lot worse,” he told Global News on Thursday.

“Every night we’ve got thieves that either jump fences, cut holes in the fences to steal stuff and I’m kind of tired of it! It’s all stuff I’ve paid for once and I have to buy again.”

He’s had propane tanks, gas jugs and torches stolen over the last week alone, and estimates he’s already spent roughly $10,000 in security costs or replacing stolen goods.

Frustrated, he wondered how to bring awareness to the issue, and settled on a sign that says “Wall of Shame” with images of the alleged thieves in front of his business.

He said he’s received lots of support from other local business owners and customers on social media for it.

A year ago, thieves even stole his excavator in the middle of the night.

“We found it down the street in the Coliseum parking lot, they weren’t able to haul it away.” he said.

While he was able to retrieve the excavator, there was extensive and costly damage done to it.

“The excavator alone was between $1,500 and $2000,” he said.

While he has reported the thefts to the Codiac RCMP, he said they weren’t able to do anything.

“Every time they arrive, the first thing that they ask is, ‘Do you have a picture of the face?'” he said.

While his security cameras have captured images of the alleged thieves, they always have their faces covered.

Beaman isn’t the only business owner on Millennium Boulevard dealing with thefts.

Roger Bastarache, owner of Roger B’s automotive garage, has had catalytic converters stolen from his client’s cars over the past year.

He thinks Beaman’s sign is a great idea.

“There should be more police patrolling around the area, you only see (the police) once in a blue moon.” Bastarache said.

Just down the road, fellow mechanic and garage owner Steven Parker said he’s been dealing with frequent break-ins and thefts since the beginning of the pandemic.

He said he gave up on reporting the thefts to the RCMP after filing “16 or 17” police reports.

Guillaume Bélanger of the Codiac RCMP told Global News on Thursday that businesses should always report thefts, because the number of reported thefts in an area is used to determine where to do patrols and how frequently.

He said even if the faces are covered, the RCMP can sometimes identify suspects by other characteristics and encourages business owners to invest in high quality security cameras.