Winnipeg residents shaken up by recent break-ins

Residents of a Winnipeg neighbourhood are beefing up security in the wake of several break-ins to homes. CTV's Joseph Bernacki has more.

Homeowners in Winnipeg’s River Park South are experiencing an uptick in property crime, according to area residents.

Travis Friesen lives on Tufnell Drive, which backs onto the Dakota Community Centre. He said his family is still shaken up after his home was targeted in the early morning hours of April 15.

Thieves hopped over his fence, took what they could and then threatened to shoot Friesen and his wife.

“My wife came to the back door, saw three silhouetted figures in the field behind our residence, loading materials, a patio table onto a truck that had backed up,” Friesen said.

“The response was stay inside or you could get shot. Frightening, very frightening.”

He said the thieves parked a truck on the greenspace in between his backyard and the community centre before breaking into a shed.

Firepit chairs and patio furniture were taken before police arrived on scene. Friesen said it’s the first time he’s felt this way after his family has lived in the same house for 17 years.

“The sense of security is absolutely not what it was five years ago,” Friesen said.

He’s not the only area resident feeling this way.

Jeff Nespiak owns Southside Cycle Works and fixes bicycles in his back lane off nearby Burland Avenue.

Nespiak said his back lane has been the repeated target for break-ins since mid-February.

After hearing that neighbours on both sides of his house were robbed – he said he’s worried he could be next.

“Three doors down they got into his garage, ransacked his vehicle, took the overhead door opener and then attempted to come back a couple of days later,” Nespiak said.

Nespiak said he believes it is the same individual targeting his neighbours as his security camera has caught the person casing the lane in all hours of the night.

In video from Feb. 28, someone is seen hopping the neighbour’s fence at 4am – close to the same time Nespiak said his neighbour reported the robbery.

A week later, a similar looking individual, wearing the same-coloured yellow gloves, appears to be snooping again, just after 3 a.m. on March 4.

“They’re sense of security is gone, [the neighbours] they’re fearful,” Nespiak said.

“It’s clearly the same individuals coming back. You know this has been going on for two months now.”

In a statement to CTV News, Markus Chambers, city councillor for the Seine Ward covering River Park South, said he’s heard from several constituents over the course of late winter and early spring regarding garage and car break-ins on Burland Avenue in the neighbourhood.

“I have notified WPS Community Services Unit to work with residents to increase safety of their homes and vehicles,” Chambers said in the statement.

“WPS has indicated that residents must continue to call in any instance so they can track these metrics and allocate resources more effectively. A stronger police presence in the south area of the city is needed as residents feel vulnerable and these activities unfortunately increase during the summer months, so getting police out there now may help curb the rash of break-ins.”

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson from the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) said they wouldn’t confirm any investigation regarding specific addresses in order to maintain the privacy of involved individuals.

In terms of a general crime map for the area, police provided information regarding property crime over the past five years.

Their data has found property crime has remained at 14 per cent in St. Vital over the past 12 months but has experienced an increase of 40.1% over the past five years. This would include St. Vital Centre.

For River Park South, property crime is down 11.1 per cent over the past year and has seen a 4.8 percent decrease over the past five years.

The WPS spokesperson said it would be too early to confirm or identify any trends in River Park South at the early stages of investigations.