'Absolutely crazy': Vancouver butcher shop broken into twice in a week

The owner of a Vancouver butcher shop is calling on the city to take action after falling victim to two break-ins in the span of just a week.

Property crime is an issue many businesses are facing, particularly in the downtown core, and has become a central issue in this year's municipal election.

The most recent break-in at Sebastian & Co Fine Meats, located on Howe Street near Drake Street, took place early Monday morning.

“Just after one week of the shop being broken into, this happened again,” owner Sebastian Cortez said in an Instagram video, while standing in front of the shattered glass doors of his business.

“It's absolutely crazy. I really don't know what to do with this city anymore. Not sure if we might have to take matters into our own hands."

Speaking to CTV News hours after the break-in was discovered, Cortez noted his business still hasn't recovered from the previous incident.

"We still have the doors boarded up," he said. "It's super frustrating."

The latest break-and-enter was caught on surveillance video at around 3:30 a.m., showing a masked man with gloves on going through drawers and ransacking the business.

About 15 minutes later, an unmasked woman is seen entering the shop. She appears to casually shoplift, taking items off the shelf and sticking them in tote bags.

The Vancouver Police Department told CTV News that suspect was arrested at the scene.

"We're quite fortunate that our officers were able to make an arrest – somebody that we know well, somebody who is a known property crime offender," Sgt. Steve Addison said.

"We've managed to take that person off the street. Hopefully that will have a bit of an impact in the neighbourhood."

Cortez said not much was stolen from his shop this time, but the damage is still significant. When Sebastian & Co Fine Meats was broken into last week, the thieves made off with cash registers – in total, Cortez estimates he’s dealing with about $10,000 in losses.

According to statistics from the Vancouver Police Department’s website, commercial break-and-enters are actually down 15 per cent in the last eight weeks compared to last year. However, they’re still an issue that will be top of mind for many business owners as they head to the polls Saturday.

Some business owners have said they don't bother reportng smaller incidents or property crime because they're tired of going through the process – but police stress that reporting helps them deploy the right amount of resources to hard-hit areas.