River Heights resident shaken after run-in with thieves in garage

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/08/2022 (763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ab Freig was threatened with his own jerry can of gasoline, then pushed to the ground in his garage when he confronted a pair of thieves rifling through his cars Sunday.

Freig, a business consultant in his 60s who has lived on Waverley Street with his wife for nearly 30 years, said he’s been “playing the tape” of the harrowing incident over and over in his mind.

After attending the unveiling of a new tombstone for his mother-in-law, his daughter accidentally left a bag in Freig’s car, which he had parked in the garage.

The husband and wife were planning to go back to their cottage that evening, so Freig decided he would leave the bag in the vehicle until they got on the road, dropping it off to his daughter on the way.

“We were leaving shortly and it was not in the middle of the night and it was not in the middle of the street, it was in our garage,” he said.

“We were leaving shortly and it was not in the middle of the night and it was not in the middle of the street, it was in our garage.” – Ab Freig

His wife noticed someone heading into their garage, and their alarm system notified them as well — so he went to check.

“I go in and I find two people in my garage — a man and a woman — the man sitting in my wife’s car… and the woman is in between the cars with a bag over her shoulder… of course, I panicked.”

He told the pair to stay put while his wife phoned police. Instead, he said, the woman grabbed a jerry can of gasoline and threatened to douse him with it.

“The man came out from the side (of the car) and opened the door, pushed me to the ground and they both fled,” he said.

The pair made off with his daughter’s bag, including her wallet, and other valuables worth about $3,000 altogether.

A pair of police officers showed up hours later and took his statement. They told him investigators would be by the next day to fingerprint the area, but no one showed up.

A police spokeswoman said the divisional commander is looking into the delayed response time on the call.

“We are very sympathetic to those who have to wait for the police to respond,” Const. Dani McKinnon said, adding incidents where there’s a threat of violence are given priority. She noted requests for service have significantly increased recently — from 578,607 in 2016 to 671,364 in 2021.

Freig said he’s not upset with the police response or the department itself, but is shaken from the experience and wants to see more officers out and about in his community.

“We’re feeling unsafe, we feel violated — we did everything we’re supposed to do, getting a security system that even alerted us that somebody’s in the garage and we went in and people were in the garage and they still could not stop them,” he said, adding there has been a surge of property crime in the area.

“It’s vandalism and break-and-entry — cars and homes and garages. My neighbour two doors down, a whole trailer was stolen out of his parking pad; somebody came with a hitch and took it,” Freig said.

“It’s chronic what is happening in River Heights. There’s got to be resources… some cruisers patrolling the area.”

“It’s chronic what is happening in River Heights. There’s got to be resources… some cruisers patrolling the area.” – Ab Freig

McKinnon said community support officers conduct proactive patrols in the neighbourhood.

Winnipeg Police Service statistics show reported break-and-enters in the neighbourhood have remained relatively consistent in recent years, with a spike in 2019. In 2017, there were 144 break-ins in River Heights; in 2018, 178; in 2019, 234; in 2020, 163; in 2021, 161. From January to May this year, 35 were reported.

Citywide, reported property crime was down last year compared to both the year prior and the five-year average, according to the police service’s latest statistical report.

In 2021, 39,670 property crimes were reported, compared to 44,455 the year prior, with the five-year average sitting at 42,680.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca