The owner of a downtown Vancouver IGA branch is speaking up about the number of violent crimes his shop has seen in recent weeks, worried about the physical safety of his staff.
In less than a month, Anthony Sullivan said his team on Robson Street has endured “dramatic” thefts and theft attempts, “brawls with groups of youth,” and threats with weapons.
“Every day we stop people and we never know how it’s going to go,” he told Global News on Tuesday. “It’s getting worse, not easier.”
On Aug. 17, Sullivan’s manager was hit multiple times in the head by a group of youth, some of whom had tried to make off with ice cream — an incident caught on the grocery store’s cameras.
“Only one or two had items they were trying to shoplift — small value items — and instead of just giving them up, they decided to fight our manager,” Sullivan said.
“So we had a full-on fist fight in our lobby here.”
Sullivan, who does not speak on behalf of the IGA chain — just his Robson Street shop — said something needs to change. The crime is “systemic” in downtown Vancouver, he added, and there doesn’t appear to be much accountability for it.
“They’re going to come back. We’ll see them again and next time, it might not be so peaceful,” he said.
“It’s not quite improving at the rate that we need it to.”
On Aug. 31, Sullivan said his staff confronted someone trying to steal a basket of meat — an oft-targeted item — and the suspect drew a seven or eight-inch knife and threatened the staff.
A 27-year-old man was arrested in that case, charged with theft and assault with a weapon, and released from custody by the courts the next day.
On Monday, the Robson Street shop was targeted again. This time, Sullivan said the suspected threatened both staff and police as she tried to leave with hundreds of dollars-worth of groceries.
A 28-year-old woman was charged with then charged with theft and two counts of assault with a weapon. Her bail hearing is set for Thursday.
Vancouver police are aware of how often the Robson Street IGA is targeted.
Sgt. Steve Addison said the force has worked with the Sullivan family to crack down on shoplifting for years. Police have even put a public safety trailer with a surveillance camera outside the shop to try and deter would-be thieves.
“It’s heartbreaking … people who are just going to work to earn a living are consistently dealing with people who are committing crimes and using violence to commit their crimes,” Addison said.
“They continue to call us. We continue to arrest people, but still it continues to happen. We’re incredibly sympathetic to what they’re going through.”
Addison continued to urge witnesses to crime to call police so arrests can be made while the suspects are still on-scene or nearby.
Two teens from the Aug. 17 brawl, meanwhile, have been arrested and police will recommend charges to the Crown in the case.
Sullivan said his store will continue operating and he’ll continue to hope the call never comes informing him that a weapon has been used on one of his staff members.
“People blame the mayor and they blame council and certainly there’s some responsibility there, but I think these are systemic issues that require more involvement from the province and the federal government to change what needs to be changed,” he said.”
“It’s a judicial issue that needs to be dealt with.”