TIMMINS - A phone call from a neighbour alerted a downtown Timmins business owner to a break-in at their candy shop.
Sweet Freez is one of several businesses that have been broken into this week.
Conversations with business owners and social media posts indicate at least a handful of break-ins and attempted break-ins occurred recently in the Third Avenue area.
The Downtown Timmins BIA has sent out a message to its members stating that they want to meet with Timmins Police Chief Sydney Lecky to talk about the sudden spike in activity. TimminsToday reached out to the Timmins Police Service, but no one was made available to comment.
Yesterday morning, Sweet Freez owner Paul Doyon got a call from Kennedy Wilson, who owns the neighbouring Ciao Sandwich.
That's how he learned the glass door was shattered and police were at the store.
The front door of the candy shop was smashed. Several totes containing equipment for off-site events and some nicknacks were taken. The cost to replace the door and the technology is over $5,000.
“That’s our biggest loss,” he said.
He said the cleanup wasn’t the biggest issue, it’s the insurance and software access through the stolen equipment that needs to get done.
“I expected the call, and I’d come here, and everything would be on the floor as you would assume would happen, but this, I can work with this,” said Doyon.
The replacement window pane will take some time to get in place due to the holidays.
“It’s four to six weeks for the window,” he said.
In the past couple of days, a number of reports of downtown businesses targeted have been shared. The list includes Pita Pit, Casa Bliss, and the Timmins Health Centre.
For hours today (Dec. 13), Third Avenue in downtown Timmins was closed between Cedar and Pine Street for a weapons investigation. While it has reopened, police have not released details on what happened.
At Lady Luck Restaurant on Balsam Street South, owner Estella Chow’s alarm went off twice during the night of Dec. 12.
“The alarm went on, and maybe when it went off, it scared them away,” said Chow. “This needs to stop.”
She is working with a locksmith to add extra security to her doors and is now pricing out bars for the restaurant’s windows.
“The cops said you need to put grills in front of your restaurants, so I’m looking into it,” she said. “It's like you have to be made of money.”
Chow said she’s still committed to holiday food programs and hopes the destruction won’t deter people from helping.
“That’s what we’re going to do,” she said. “We try our best to help them out as much as we can.”
Timmins Downtown BIA executive director Cory Robin said the organization is bringing its members' concerns, fears and anger to the levels of government that can help.
“The BIA can’t do anything about catch and release, but I can talk to the police chief and amplify your voices,” said Robin. “I can’t go down the street and arrest people or throw people around but I can take these stories and take your frustration and your anger to other people and go and yell at them. The Ministry of Justice is the one that’s really allowing these things to continue.”
The BIA is also helping bring a little more light to the boarded-up doors in the area, with early plans to decorate and give the temporary fixtures a little more character.
Support for the businesses is important to keep up, said Robin, and it can make a difference in the social problems the area deals with, too.
“Come downtown, spend some money at Christmas, support our downtown shops,” said Robin. “The more people that are here, the less craziness you’ll see.”
