What to know
- Obaid Ullah, the owner of Uncle Sal’s Hot Chicken, says his restaurant was targeted by a theft which landed him with a broken door and an empty till.
- He says it was not an isolated incident, with other restaurants in the area also targeted in a similar manner.
- Ullah is calling on increased vigilance from community members.
The owner of a Scarborough restaurant is calling for increased community vigilance after what he says was a string of break-and-enters in the neighbourhood.
Obaid Ullah, whose restaurant Uncle Sal’s Hot Chicken was targeted in an overnight theft on Wednesday, says the thief was “in and out” and seemed to know what he was doing.
“They did it very professionally. Gloves on, hood up, mask up, cap on, a backpack. … [They were] very vigilant of their surroundings, what they were wearing and what they were touching,” Ullah tells Now Toronto.
The thief took off with $500 from the till and left Ullah with a $700 bill to fix the smashed door. He says it was atypical for there to be that much money in the till, as he typically clears it out on a daily basis. This week was an anomaly as he was sick for a few days.
Ullah says this incident was not isolated, however, that other restaurants in the neighbourhood were also targeted in recent weeks, including a store beside him just ten days ago.
“Upon talking with police, we found out that this person has been on a string of robberies across Scarborough and he’s been hitting up multiple restaurants,” Ullah shares.
Ullah felt obligated to share what had happened to his store through social media so that members of the community could “be vigilant, aware, and look out for one another.”
Break-and-enters at small businesses a cause for concern: Toronto Association BIA
John Kiru, CEO of Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA), says incidents targeting small businesses like these are of “great concern.”
“Small businesses are challenged nowadays, more so than ever,” Kiru tells Now Toronto.
“Whether it’s break-ins or any incident that paints a negative perception of a neighbourhood, of a community, of a business, is of significant concern to us.”
Kiru says TABIA works closely with the Toronto Police Service (TPS) to do what it can to keep businesses in the city safe. He says many BIA’s sit on Community Police Liaison Committees and work to support their members with crime-related matters, both proactively and reactively,
“Things like how to deal with confrontations, how to safeguard your premises and properties,” Kiru explains.
While aware of these initiatives, Ullah says he hadn’t been worried about his restaurant’s safety until this week.
“Naturally, we’re under an assumption that we’re in a very safe city and in a very safe country,” Ullah says.
“For the most part, we expect to be safe when our doors are locked.”
However, Wednesday’s event opened Ullah’s eyes to what could go wrong.
While Uncle Sal’s is not part of the local BIA, Kiru says he’s confident one would lend a helping hand if needed.
“Even though [Uncle Sal’s] is outside of the BIA, their proximity is close enough that if they were to reach out, I can pretty well guarantee that the BIA will cooperate and lend any assistance they can in hooking them up with what they would do for one of their members,” he says.
Ullah calls for increased community accountability
“The TPS has challenges in and of itself, but I think this also comes from the community,” Ullah says, reflecting on the systemic issues that have given rise to the increase in crime across the nation.
Kiru agrees. He says the social issues the city has been seeing over the last few years have made way for a rise in crime.
“We need to hold each other accountable. We need to make sure that our youth, our friends, our family, they’re not open to opportunities to go into crime,” he says.
Ullah says the current economic challenges mean there are those acting out of desperation just to put food on the table.
“We, as a community, need to find a way to come back together and uplift one another – especially our youth – to help them stay off the negative activities and keep them busy with positive opportunities and positive income opportunities,” he says.
