What to know
- A phone belonging to the wife of a Marry Me Mochi owner was allegedly stolen during Taste of Little Italy.
- The device reportedly contained years of photos and videos of the couple’s children.
- The family says the emotional loss outweighs the value of the phone itself.
- Other festival attendees shared similar theft experiences online.
- The business is urging visitors to remain vigilant in crowded festival settings.
A local business shared their heartbreaking experience after their phone was stolen at the Taste of Little Italy festival, losing irreplaceable photos of their children’s early years.
GTA Vietnamese bakery and café, Marry Me Mochi, participated in the Taste of Little Italy festival as a vendor. They shared in an Instagram post that they spent $5,000 on the stall, 5 hours setting it up, and a lot of money replacing generators, gas, oil, and lights. Despite these hurdles, the café kept going, but the cherry on top: CEO Tommy Nguyen’s wife, Tuyen Nguyen, was allegedly robbed of her phone, which held countless memories of their kids’ youth.
This comes after a series of reported robberies across festivals, most recently at Do West Fest.
Read More
How the theft happened
“Someone stole my wife’s phone in one second flat at Taste of Italy, and years of our kids’ photos went with it,” the caption reads in part.
Nguyen explained in the post that despite the dozens of problems they’ve encountered before the festival, they keep trying to be positive.
“No matter what breaks, we put a smile on and serve everyone,” he wrote.
But the worst-case scenario came true shortly after. As Tuyen Nguyen led her husband through the crowd, someone allegedly bumped into her and stole her phone, which was tucked in a bag against her chest.
“So slick that neither of us noticed until 30 seconds later, when she reached in, and it was gone. I immediately called her phone, and it went straight to voicemail… we knew it was gone,” Tommy Nguyen wrote in the caption.
‘A phone is just a phone,’ but how is the family feeling?
He shared his heartbreak over the costly $2000 phone, but said, “A phone is just a phone.” What hurts the most are the lost photos of his children, Kaiden and Lindy, from ages two to seven.
“Gone and not recoverable. Lindy’s dance classes, recitals, Kaiden’s concerts and everything else… Family and memories matter most to us, so that one stung,” Tommy Nguyen wrote.
He continued that seeing his wife stressed and hurt added an extra sting of heartbreak.
Nguyen warns the public to be careful in festival crowds.
Other Torontonians share similar experiences
This doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. Festivalgoers shared similar experiences under that same post.
“Sorry to see this. It happened to my wife’s phone too. One second, walking between Clinton and Euclid, where it was packed last night. We tracked it, but then they turned it off. Reported it to the police, but we know it’s gone. I feel violated, and she is ok with it, but it was a fun night up until then,” one user shared.
“I’m so so sorry to hear about this! I also had my 3-month-old iPhone stolen at a vendor market a couple of years ago. Keep checking Find My iPhone to see if it’s been turned on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get it back either, and it was probably stripped for parts. Thieves are getting better and better, and now I always hold my phone; you never know who is watching you,” another wrote.
“My wallet was stolen at the festival :/ I was stranded downtown and had no means to get anywhere cuz I had to lock all my cards. The cops on the sidelines didn’t do much to help, unfortunately,” another user said.
