Some staff members at Victoria restaurants are on edge after bold thieves broke into and stole from them.
Redd’s Roadhouse Pub, a restaurant connected to the Comfort Inn & Suites, caught a bold thief on surveillance video Nov. 16. The man couldn’t be seen entering any of the doors, said general manager Ryan Smith, causing concerns about how he was able to access the building.
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“That gentleman never came through a door,” Smith says. “He found a way into our back storage area and ransacked the room.”
The thief went into Smith’s office and stole around $400 in tips for the kitchen staff before proceeding to the staff room and stealing a wallet. The man was confronted by staff about why he was in the back area but appears unfazed.
Smith said his staff are starting to feel concerned about safety on the job.
“My job as a manager is to make sure my staff is safe, respected and … don’t have to deal with these things,” he said, adding there has been an increase in thefts from cars and disturbances around the restaurant. “With the rise in crime in the area lately, we feel like we have to look over our shoulders.”
He did file a report with the Victoria Police Department.
Staff at Fishhook at Mermaid Wharf also have safety concerns after nearly $900 worth of seafood was stolen from the waterside restaurant earlier this month.
In the early hours of Nov. 2, thieves found a small opening to the restaurant’s interior from the patio and got into the kitchen where they started gathering up the restaurant’s rockfish, squid, shrimp and more. The fish bandits took “anything they could get their hands on,” according to general manager Nicole DeCoste.
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Weeks later another thief showed up on video footage. On Nov. 16 the restaurant’s security cameras picked up a person snooping around the patio with a flashlight. Eventually, they left with a single bar mat. The next day nearby neighbours reported patio furniture missing from their yards.
“We’ve been here over two years and have been really lucky with no one bothering us,” Decoste said. “Now, I’m just not sure what’s going on. Even being alone in the morning, I make sure I have all the doors locked.”
DeCoste added both incidents have been reported to police.
The Victoria Police Department had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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