'It's frustrating': Winnipeg business trashed after repeated break-ins

A Winnipeg business owner wants something to be done after his office was broken into at least four times in the past two months.

When Jesse McDowell, the co-owner of Align Sewer and Water, showed up at his office on Myrtle Street Monday morning, he saw the damage to his front door right away – a sign that he had been broken into… again.

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"(It's) disheartening. It's frustrating," McDowell told CTV News.

He said the company opened the office space last year, but it has become a target for thieves in the past few months.

"We've had everything stolen – from computers, to my grandma's electric wheelchair, to my dad's art supplies, to alcohol that we had in our lounge. Everything has been completely stolen," he said.

Shattered glass litters the sidewalk outside his office and plywood sheets cover most windows - only a few remain intact. Inside the mess is much worse.

"They've been breaking windows, climbing all around the building, punching holes through outside walls," McDowell said.

"Every room has had walls ripped out, all sorts of devices stolen, and we just can't function here anymore."

In one case, he actually caught one of the thieves inside, who he believed was under the influence of drugs at the time. He said he was able to hold them in the building until police arrived hours later and arrested them.

McDowell said the office isn't safe for his employees to work in anymore forcing them to work remotely.

He's doing what he can. The company has hired overnight security, but that hasn’t curbed the crime.

He has now reached out to his city councillor and wants something to be done.

"The only thing I could consider is in the short term more police patrols, that's really the only short-term resolution," he said.

"Obviously, people are not stealing… for fun for the most part. They're doing it out of a need for food or money or drugs. So obviously, there's a bigger problem that needs to be dealt with."

McDowell isn't alone in this.

Just down the road is On-Time Group. It's owner Mike Gilmore said crime is getting worse.

"Had a trailer stolen. We've had all of our spare vans in the back be broken into, one way or the other. Smashed glass, door handles ripped off, et cetera. Just recently, we've had this window smashed in," said Gilmore.

The constant issues mean he is having to deal with the cost out of his own pocket.

"Eight years ago when we first came to the area, it cleaned up very well. Just in the last month or so, we've just noticed that it's gotten very bad again."

If something doesn't change, he might have to make changes himself.

"If we can't come up with another way to secure our compounds safer, we'll have to start looking to move outside the downtown area."

As CTV News first reported last week, 7-Eleven Canada has told city officials it is considering closing 10 locations in Winnipeg due to theft and crime. That problem extending along Main Street, where the North End Biz told CTV News it lost more than half its businesses in less than 15 years.

McDowell isn't surprised.

"It does make it harder to do business,” he said. “And if you're being stolen from all the time, it's just it takes the fun out of any ownership whatsoever."

CTV News has reached out to police and the city councillor for more details.