Timmins — Over the past week, there have been several smash-and-grab-type break-ins at Timmins businesses that have disheartened merchants. A shoe store, a mobile phone repair shop, and a spa have all been targeted by thieves during the early hours of the morning.
The manager of Pop Shoes in Timmins said her week is getting off with a rough start.
"Got a phone call from the alarm company saying there was not a break and enter just a crack in our window and so I called the police to find out if something had been done through dispatch. They got the same report. But yet, when I come, there’s a huge hole in the window so it’s clearly not just a crack," Nicole Hibbard said.
Hibbard said it appeared rocks had been smashed through the double-pane storefront windows, spraying glass all inside the store. She said some fingerprints were left behind on a window which she hopes will help Timmins police locate whoever made off with some footwear and boots, leaving her with a sad mess.
A few streets over, the owner of Nick's iPhone Repairs, is also still in shock after a similar smash and grab at his business a week ago.
"Just shocked. I still haven’t absorbed it. Still going through the things that were missing and making a list for the police," Nicholas Peever said. He said most of his inventory was taken during the robbery, along with customers' devices that were in the shop for repairs.
“Still going to move forward and work really hard to reverse the damage from my inventory and the store and relationships with my clients," Peever said.
Chrislynn Losier, who owns Just Natural Spa, said she now has to put bars on some of her storefront windows after someone broke in last Wednesday and robbed the business of cash and a donation bag for charity.
She said she bought the building seven months ago, hoping the area would be safer than the downtown core, but she was also expecting crime to eventually strike.
"Almost every day, we have to escort clients to their vehicles or at least stand in the window and watch them get to their vehicle. Just last week, one of our clients had someone jump on the top of their vehicle, screaming. Our back alley where we all park, there was a woman getting beat up almost to death within like two weeks ago. So when we leave the building we have to look out the window," Losier said.
The owner of a Timmins security company said he recently made a pitch to the downtown business improvement association (BIA), but he said so far, no one is taking him up on it.
"I calculated on how many businesses are registered with the BIA and I believe it came out $25 per business per month to cover the cost of having a security guard patrol 12 hours in the evening," said Martin Piel, of PADS-K9 Protection and Detection Service.
But business owners told CTV News they feel they already pay high taxes and say more police patrols should be done.
Timmins police said all these incidents remain under investigation. They also told CTV News the foot patrol officer's hours have been reduced now that school is back in session and the officer is spending most of her time with students.
"People need to wake up and work together to make this community a place where people want to live and raise their families in again," Peever said.
He and the others we spoke with said they'll continue to persevere, but they're hoping to see positive changes sooner than later to make Timmins the safe place it was when they were growing up here.
