A vehicle owned by a Food Fair co-owner and his cousin was set ablaze in a broadday arson attack carried out by two women who had allegedly been caught shoplifting.
The Free Press was shown surveillance camera footage of the incident, which happened in the car park of the family-owned chain's West End store on Friday at about 3pm.
“Nobody got hurt, that's the most important thing, but it's still a terrible situation,” co-owner Tariq Zayed said Monday.
Officials view video footage of a vehicle in a parking lot being set on fire in the middle of the afternoon. (Free Press)
This is the latest incident involving the store at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Burnell Street, which has taken a stance against shoplifting and is facing assault charges after an altercation with a suspected thief.
The video shows two women approaching a car that does not contain Zayed's cousin, smashing the window and spraying flammable liquid inside, before doing the same to Zayed's 2023 Range Rover.
A fireball shot out of the car window and the two women ducked for cover as one of them set the interior of the vehicle on fire. Flames were also visible on the outside of Zayed's SUV, which was parked next to the car.
Firefighters quickly arrived and put out the fire.
Zeid said he believed the women were the same two who were taken from the store the previous day for shoplifting.
He said they returned later that night and sneaked gasoline-soaked cardboard into his SUV through a slightly open window.
A car owned by Zaid's cousin was also parked next to the SUV at the time.
The video shows two women approaching a car that does not contain Zayed's cousin, smashing the window and spraying a flammable liquid inside, then doing the same to Zayed's 2023 Range Rover. (Free Press)
The Free Press was also shown video of the incident, in which the woman runs into a nearby alley and leaves with another woman.
“They know I'm connected to the store somehow,” Zeid said, noting that his Range Rover was regularly parked outside the store for long periods of time.
Neither vehicle had a Food Fair logo, and the video showed the women walking toward the vehicles as other cars were parked in the parking lot.
At the end of work, Zeid noticed the cardboard box in his car, so he cleaned it up, called police and drove off.
He said Friday's fire could result in the destruction of his SUV and his cousin's car.
Winnipeg police spokesman Constable Claude Chancey said the Major Crimes Unit is investigating.
Zaid and his brother, Munter Zaid, co-owner of Food Fair, said shoplifting has increased and there have been instances of retaliation since an altercation on April 28 between an Indigenous woman suspected of shoplifting and the store manager was made public.
Security video viewed by a Free Press reporter showed the supervisor grabbing the woman's bag, the woman swinging her fist at the employee, and then the employee appears to punch her in the face.
Munter Zaid said the supervisor remains suspended.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has ended its business relationship with Food Fare Inc., which has denied accusations of racism and racial profiling.
A little over two weeks later, five masked assailants armed with bats, batons and brass knuckles broke into the store and assaulted three employees.
Munter Zaid said most of the attackers had been in the store about an hour earlier and had made reference to the April 28 incident.
A 17-year-old boy has already been charged. No additional arrests had been made as of Monday.
A fireball shot out of the car window and two women ducked for cover as one of them set the interior of the vehicle on fire. (Free Press)
Munter Zaid has spoken openly about placing baseball bats in strategic locations in his store.
He said he'd discussed shoplifting with Justice Minister Matt Wiebe and Progressive Conservative justice critic Wayne Balcaen, both of whom he said took the issue seriously.
“Time will tell what will be done and what can be done,” he said.
He said most thieves believe that if they are caught, police won't act immediately and that they won't face serious consequences if charged.
“The message needs to be that shoplifting is not acceptable,” he said. “What if it's yours? After a while, it becomes tiresome.”
“If I have to stand in my store and watch people stealing, I can't afford to stand in my store. I can't afford that. I have to stand up.”
His brother, Tariq, agreed.
“This is how I support my children. If I lose a lot of money shoplifting, it's coming out of my pocket,” he said.
chriskitchen@freepress.mb.ca
Chris Kitching
Reporter
As a general assignment reporter, Chris covers a little bit of everything for the Free Press.
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