7-Eleven stores in Winnipeg losing hundreds daily, representatives tell police board
Representatives of 7-Eleven say the convenience store giant's Winnipeg locations are losing hundreds of dollars daily to theft, according to the chair of the Winnipeg police board.
St. Norbert-Seine River Coun. Markus Chambers and the board's other members met with 7-Eleven representatives on Friday.
The level of theft is not sustainable, Chambers said, and police plan to launch a new retail theft initiative once the new North District station, which officially opened in September, is fully operational.
"It would look like the initiative that took place during the Christmas holidays — officers connecting with retailers, with businesses, and making sure that we're hearing exactly what's going on, and then creating that greater police presence right in the community and neighbourhoods," he said in an interview.
Company officials warned city councillors last year that 10 of their Winnipeg stores were at risk of closing.
Since then, some locations have permanently shut their doors.
The police board met with three officials from the company, including the regional manager for Manitoba, Chambers said.
They told the board the company wants to keep its remaining stores in the city open, he said, but "recognizing that it's not sustainable to have upwards of $500 or $600 daily being ripped off from your stores."
"So it is about sustainability and how we can work together," he said.
CBC News reached out to 7-Eleven for comment but did not receive a reply prior to publication.
According to a report presented to city councillors in August 2024, the 987 incidents, including thefts and robberies, reported at all of the North End 7-Eleven locations in the first quarter of last year was nearly equal to the total of 1,098 reported in all of 2023.
The store at the corner of Salter Street and Flora Avenue, which was on the list of potential closures, had experienced more than $323,500 worth of thefts, the report said.
Last May, the province announced a short-term plan to pay for police to work overtime in identified retail crime hot spots. It allocated another $1.16 million in a July extension, and then extended it again in October, before making the funding permanent in November.
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Montreal Gazette
a day ago
- Montreal Gazette
The Bay's last days: Iconic Canadian retailer closes Sunday
By At the Hudson's Bay flagship store in downtown Montreal on Saturday, shoppers picked through the remnants of a once-iconic retailer, including heavily discounted mannequins. 'I saw them and I thought, well, this might come in useful. Don't know how,' said customer Keith Schmidt. Minutes earlier, he had dropped the mannequin on the floor, snapping off three fingers, but still paid $35 to take it home. Shelves, clothing racks and hangers were also up for grabs during the final weekend of The Bay's bankruptcy liquidation sale, as the 355-year-old retail chain prepares to close its doors for good on June 1. Hudson's Bay, founded in 1670, filed for bankruptcy in March and faces $1.1 billion in debt. The downtown Montreal location was barely recognizable as a high-end department store the day before its closing, with leaky makeup bottles strewn across countertops and shattered Christmas decorations marked up to 90 per cent off their original retail value. Near the messy countertops read a sign: 'All sales are final. No exchange or return will be accepted.' One customer was taken aback by the state of the store. 'I was very surprised to see the total emptiness,' said shopper Fanny Obadia in an interview. 'Actually, you get to see the building. I'm an architect, so I haven't seen this level of flooring at The Bay ever.' Despite the mostly empty racks and displays, hundreds of shoppers passed by the store one last time on Saturday. 'It doesn't even feel right really. It's just sad,' said lifelong Bay regular Marge Kavanagh, adding she came for the nostalgia rather than the deals. Another customer walking through a sea of mannequins, Marina B., shared the sentiment. 'I didn't come to buy anything today. I came to say goodbye to a beautiful building,' she said in an interview. 'It's a sad day.' One amateur photographer was taken by the mannequins, saying he'd come by the closing store several days in a row to photograph them. Other customers came for the deals, including Ivy Lou. 'It's amazing that they're selling everything,' Lou said after she bought a shelf for $10. 'It's my first time in my life seeing stuff like this happen.' By the end of the day Sunday, more than 8,300 Hudson's Bay employees will be out of a job. Several staff members told The Gazette they weren't comfortable speaking on the record, but said the closing has been hard. Some had worked there for decades. Geneviève Dostaler, who runs a hat company bearing her name and operates a retail concession inside The Bay, said she is grieving the department store's demise. 'I think that the saddest thing is that we are very quiet since, maybe since the pandemic,' she explained in an interview, as dozens of shoppers surrounded her, trying on linen hats and scarves. 'We were really, really not busy for years. And now, seeing the people coming just like that. Oh, my God, you're almost dying.'
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Toronto Star
‘Planned from the get-go': Gunmen and driver guilty in murder of Toronto boy Dante Andreatta, 12
Four-and-a-half years ago, 12-year-old Dante Andreatta was walking with his mother in the middle of the afternoon on a North York sidewalk when he was hit in the neck by a stray bullet that wasn't intended for him. He died in hospital a few days later. On Saturday, after five days of deliberations, a Toronto jury found three men guilty of first-degree murder in a death that shocked the city for its senselessness. The two gunmen and getaway driver were also found guilty of five counts of attempted murder for opening fire on a carload of teenagers, wounding three of them. The verdicts mean jurors accepted the prosecution's theory that the broad daylight shooting on Nov. 7, 2020 was planned and deliberate. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The trio drove a stolen car to 25 Stong Court, north of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, wearing gloves and masks. They were armed with fully loaded extended magazines. The gunmen waited, watched, and flanked the teens' car together, and, when it pulled away, they chased together and fired 18 shots each at the fleeing vehicle. 'This was a planned murder,' Crown attorney Arian Khader told the jury in his closing address. Gta 'Sometimes I think my 12 years with Dante were a dream': A Toronto father on life after his child's senseless murder Six weeks after his killing, 12-year-old Dante Andreatta Marroquin's room is much as he left it; his soccer net is still in the drive. 'Sometimes Gta 'Sometimes I think my 12 years with Dante were a dream': A Toronto father on life after his child's senseless murder Six weeks after his killing, 12-year-old Dante Andreatta Marroquin's room is much as he left it; his soccer net is still in the drive. 'Sometimes Jurors rejected the testimony of Rashawn Chambers and Jahwayne Smart, both 29. The cousins told the jury they went to 25 Stong Court to do a drug rip-off. They said they had no plans to use the loaded handguns they routinely carried as drug dealers. Cjay Hobbs, 32, did not testify at trial, but admitted he aided them by driving them to and from the crime; he is already serving a life sentence for murder. Their plans changed, Chambers and Smart claimed, when one of the five teens in the car flashed a pistol. Chambers and Smart said they went into self-defence mode and sprayed the teens' Honda with 36 rounds as the driver attempted to flee the apartment parking lot; his quick actions averted what would have 'been a massacre,' Khader told jurors. It was only at trial that then-teen Deshaun Daley, who is now 22, said for the first time that he indeed did pull a gun from his waistband. (He and the car's other occupants were not the intended target of the purported drug rip-off. They were hanging out, rolling joints and waiting for ice cream to be delivered. Daley, however, is currently serving a prison sentence for gun possession.) ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Khader told the jury Chambers, Smart and Daley all lied in court. The defendants were trying to absolve themselves from blame. Daley lied because he 'was scared for his life. He was shot four times and almost died,' said Khader, who prosecuted the case with veteran Patrick Clement. 'There was no gun, they weren't provoked it is what it looks like: a cold-blooded murder,' Khader said. He urged the jury to study surveillance videos that captured the two men chasing and firing their guns at the Honda as it pulled away. 'Neither of them are reacting to something scary,' the prosecutor said, 'this was planned from the get-go.' Surveillance footage from Nov. 7, 2020, shows the shooting that killed 12-year-old bystander Dante Andreatta, who was out walking with his mom on the far sidewalk of Jane Street, in North York. The video shows gunmen Rashawn Chambers and Jahwayne Smart opening fire on a car containing five teens. At trial, Chambers and Smart have testified they fired in response to a gun being waved in their direction. He also explained the concept of 'transferred intent.' Smart and Chambers did not need to have the intent to kill Andreatta in order to be found guilty of murder. If Smart or Chambers were trying to kill someone in the Honda, and in doing so accidentally killed the boy, they are guilty of murder, Khader said. The jury retired to deliberate midday Tuesday after listening to Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett's 300-page charge. Dante Andreatta, 12, was shot by a stray bullet while out walking with his mom. He died in hospital on Nov. 11, 2020. GoFundMe Khader also told jurors in his closing address that their job was not to find the motive. Nor are prosecutors permitted to 'speculate' on one. Nonetheless, Khader noted that many 'senseless' murders happen in Toronto, sometimes over mistaken identity. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'There is no rationalizing murder,' Khader said as the defendants hunched forward in the prisoner box. He didn't mention that many homicides and shootings in Toronto involve complex gang dynamics and that acts of violence are rarely random and often stem from escalating cycles of retaliation, fear and long-standing rivalries. Some perceived disputes stretch back decades and, increasingly, have grown to involve innocent victims targeted for no reason other than where they live. The teen driver of the Honda was aware of this. He told police that while he and his friends sat in the Honda, he noticed a car entering the parking lot and packed with men 'masked up.' 'People do that stuff, they shoot innocent people.' If the jury accepted the defence claim the pair acted in self-defence, they could have been acquitted. Defence lawyers also asked jurors to consider the defence of provocation — because of the purported gun that Daley pointed — and find them guilty of manslaughter. In court, Smart testified he was shot multiple times when he was 14, lying in bed in Regent Park; seeing a gun made him panic and freak out. 'I went after the car with a mix of fear and anger, and seeing red.' Gta Toronto gunman says he's 'ashamed and sad' 12-year-old Dante Andreatta was killed by stray bullet It was fight or flight, gunman Jahwayne Smart explained in court on Tuesday. 'I didn't want to Chambers was nearby when Smart, his cousin, was shot. He also 'freaked out and lost control,' his lawyer, Monte MacGregor, argued in his closing address. MacGregor, who specializes in murder cases, was co-counsel with Amanda Warth. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW What the jury didn't hear The trial began about a month ago. In the early days, defence lawyer Richard Posner, who represented Smart, produced a copy of a text the juror sent to someone saying, 'They going down.' The judge gave the sheepish juror a stern rebuke before dismissing him. Closing arguments sparked legal clashes after Posner suggested a bullet fired from Smart's gun couldn't have possibly killed the little boy, and that his criminal record supports that he isn't violent. The judge instructed jurors to disregard the suggestion that Chambers' gun fired the killing shot, saying no determination could be made. She denied a prosecution request, however, that the jury learn of Smart's previous conviction for manslaughter because of the way Posner had portrayed his client. Jurors also did not hear that the three were suspects in two other shootings in the days leading up to Nov. 7, one in Brantford, Ont., — where the targeted person was affiliated with the Driftwood Crips; the other at 390 Driftwood Ave., about a three-minute drive from 25 Stong Court. (Charges laid against Chambers, Hobbs and Smart in the Brantford shooting were withdrawn; no charges were laid in the shooting at 390 Driftwood.) The defendants were faced with overwhelming evidence collected by Toronto police that forced Chambers and Smart to admit they were the shooters. It included extensive surveillance footage, digital evidence, Chamber's fingerprint on the Honda they used to get to and from the crime scene, and the fact Chambers and Smart were arrested outside a downtown Canadian Tire with the murder weapons. (Smart didn't concede his ID, however, until midway through the trial.) Their concession meant that prosecutors put in much of the evidence via an agreed statement of facts. In 2023, a jury convicted Hobbs of second-degree murder for his role in the daylight shooting of Dimarjio Jenkins in Toronto's entertainment district on May 26, 2020. The rising star in Toronto's underground rap scene performed as the Houdini, often featuring on songs with other rappers based out of the Driftwood area north of Jane and Finch. Similar to this case, Hobbs was the getaway driver; the shooter has never been identified. Khader, who prosecuted both cases, called the killing of 21-year-old Jenkins an 'orchestrated assassination.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Gta Getaway driver — also accused in killing of 12-year-old boy — guilty in murder of rising Toronto rap star Houdini The verdict came on the third anniversary of the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Dante Andreatta Marroquin. Driver Cjay Hobbs is still facing a Gta Getaway driver — also accused in killing of 12-year-old boy — guilty in murder of rising Toronto rap star Houdini The verdict came on the third anniversary of the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Dante Andreatta Marroquin. Driver Cjay Hobbs is still facing a Hobbs testified at that trial that he was on Blue Jays Way near King Street waiting to sell a kilogram of cocaine with another man who opened fire when he realized they were about to be robbed. He did not take the stand at this just-completed trial where he was represented by Craig Zeeh. The jury heard only a passing mention to Smart's brother, Jahvante Smart, the rapper Smoke Dawg. In June 2018, he was murdered in a chaotic daylight double killing on Queen Street West by a gunman who grew up in the same Driftwood neighbourhood where Andreatta would be shot two years later. Gta Gunman guilty of double murder in Queen St. killing of popular Toronto rapper Smoke Dawg Abdulkadir Handule, 26, has been convicted on two counts of second-degree murder for killing Jahvante Smart and Ernest Modekwe in a shocking Gta Gunman guilty of double murder in Queen St. killing of popular Toronto rapper Smoke Dawg Abdulkadir Handule, 26, has been convicted on two counts of second-degree murder for killing Jahvante Smart and Ernest Modekwe in a shocking Four of the five teens shot in the Stong Court parking lot came to court and testified. The driver did not. He died from a drug overdose. The 12-year-old victim's name was rarely mentioned in the course of evidence. Family members attended court daily and sobbed quietly when video surveillance of the shooting played in court. On Nov. 7, 2020, around 2 p.m., Karla Marroquin and her son were walking northbound on the west side of Jane Street, north of Finch Avenue W. They were coming from the FreshCo at the Jane and Finch Mall. When they reached Stong Court, Marroquin heard a noise that sounded like fireworks. Bullets were flying and she felt a 'burning' on her back. She turned and saw Dante on the ground. He had been hit in the neck by a stray bullet. She called 911 and put her hands over his neck to try to control the bleeding, she told police in a recorded statement. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW He was rushed to SickKids Hospital where he died on Nov. 11. Punishment for a first-degree murder conviction is an automatic life sentence with no parole eligibility for 25 years. Sentencing is set for July 3.
Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
3 Toronto men guilty of 1st-degree murder of 12-year-old boy struck by stray bullet in 2020
Three men on trial for the first-degree murder of 12-year-old Dante Andreatta, who was killed by a stray bullet while walking on Jane Street near Finch Avenue West on Nov. 7, 2020, have been found guilty. The jury also found Rashawn Chambers, Jahwayne Smart, and Cjay Hobbs guilty of five counts of attempted murder in relation to five occupants of a Honda Accord who were being shot at that day. The jury returned with it's verdict at 1 p.m. on Saturday, on its fifth day of deliberations following the five-week trial that began in April. The fatal shooting shocked the city at the time because it involved an innocent child who was walking home from a McDonald's restaurant with his mother when he was shot. In the Crown's closing arguments, assistant Crown attorney Arian Khader argued Chambers, Smart and Hobbs went to 25 Stong Ct. in a stolen vehicle, wearing masks and gloves, to commit murder. Story continues below advertisement The Crown said the fact that Smart and Chambers fired 36 rounds at the Honda Accord was powerful evidence the three accused went there to carry out a murder and called the defence theory that they were there to do a drug rip off 'far-fetched.' Khader told jurors that without Deshawn Daley's testimony about a gun, the defence would have no case. Daley, who the jury heard is in jail for a series of break and enters, testified he pointed a gun out the passenger side window of the Honda when he saw a man running towards the car. Daley said he didn't know the man but thought he saw a bulge in his sweater. He told the jury that after shots rang out, he pulled the gun in and rolled up the window. The Crown said the video evidence does not support Daley's version of events and argued Daley did not have a gun, given none of the eyewitnesses testified to seeing it. The Crown also said the gun could not have been sticking out of the window, given video surveillance showed the passenger window was fully closed. The Crown told the jury Daley should not be believed because what he said was impossible. Daley testified he is scared of people coming after him in jail, which is why the Crown said Daley gave favourable evidence to the accused, to mitigate his role in a conviction. Story continues below advertisement The Crown also argued Smart and Chambers could not have reacted as quickly as they did, letting off 18 rounds each, telling the jury this was a carefully planned and choreographed hit. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy In their closing arguments, Rashawn Chambers' lawyers Monte MacGregor and Amanda Warth argued their client did not commit first-degree murder, nor did he attempt to murder any of the occupants in the silver Honda, calling it a 'chance encounter.' Chambers testified they were drug dealers who went to Stong Court to rip off another drug dealer who believed he was buying a kilogram of cocaine for $60,000. Due to an apparent shortage of cocaine during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chambers said they were planning to give the dealer baking soda packed like a brick of cocaine instead. 'He believed his friend was shot. He believed he was going to be run down as the silver Honda raced towards him. He freaked out and lost control. He shot instinctively, grabbing the gun from his waist and firing. This whole incident lasted for seven seconds,' said MacGregor. MacGregor told the jury if they don't find self-defence applies and Chambers' actions were excessive, he can only be guilty of manslaughter. Richard Posner, Smart's lawyer, argued Smart, who has also admitted to being one of the two shooters, also acted in self-defence when he fired his gun. Posner said Smart was shot at as a 14-year-old child, when he was almost killed lying in bed, and his instinct was to fight not take flight. Story continues below advertisement Smart, also an admitted drug dealer, testified he always carried a handgun and was not carrying a gun with him to kill anyone that day. The shooting was not arbitrary, Posner told the jury, but a reaction to a Glock 26 handgun being pointed towards him. Smart and Chambers testified they got out of the car to prove to Hobbs, who was driving, the occupants of the Honda were not connected to a man named 'KD.' Hobbs had arranged for them to sell the fake cocaine to KD through another friend named Baby, but Hobbs had never met KD before and only knew he was driving a silver Nissan. Smart and Chambers told Hobbs it was the wrong make and model of car and thought the occupants looked like kids. Posner also argued the video evidence was not consistent with a planned ambush. Hobbs' lawyer Craig Zee said his client should be acquitted of all charges, arguing all three were acting in lawful self-defence when Daley pointed a loaded Glock out of the window. Zee called the Crown's theory that it was planned 'purely speculative,' and because the accused did not know the occupants of the Honda, there was no reason to target anyone involved. Zee also urged jurors to believe Daley, who never told police about the gun before because he wanted to clear his conscience. His testimony was corroborated by the three accused. Story continues below advertisement Superior Court Justice Joan Barrett said for Smart and Chambers to be found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury had to be satisfied that the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt the shooting was both planned and deliberate, and they had the state of mind required for murder. Barrett explained for Hobbs, who was driving, to be found guilty of first-degree murder, the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hobbs knew Smart and Chambers intended to use their firearms, would have perceived bodily harm and drove to 25 Stong Ct. that day to assist in this deliberate act. The Crown must also have proved that he aided them knowing that one or both had the state of mind for murder, The jury did not hear that Smart had a previous conviction for manslaughter from 2013 after a fatal shooting. He was sentenced to 58 days in custody after 672 days of pre-sentence custody and a one-year conditional supervision order. Smart's manslaughter conviction was excluded after the defence successfully argued on a Corbett application. Once Barrett ruled on excluding the manslaughter conviction, Smart testified in his own defence. The jury also did not hear that Hobbs was convicted of second-degree murder for a shooting outside the Bisha Hotel on May 26, 2020. Hobbs was driving the getaway car when Dimarjio Jenkins, also known as the rapper Houdini, was fatally shot. Hobbs was sentenced in March 2024 to a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of 15 years. Story continues below advertisement The jury also did not hear that roughly 12 hours before Dante Andreatta was shot, there was a shooting outside a motel in Brantford. No one was injured but at the time, but police described the shooting as targeted. Chambers, Smart and Hobbs were charged in relation to that shooting but the charges were later stayed. The Crown in this case did not bring an application to tender evidence of that shooting. A sentencing hearing has been set for July. First-degree murder is a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. The issue a judge must decide on is the sentence for the five counts of attempted murder. Those sentences will run concurrent to the life sentence.
