Ottawa man facing charges after Centretown businesses targeted in weekend break and enters

At least two small businesses in Centretown were smashed up and robbed overnight. A police investigation is underway. CTV’s Natalie van Rooy reports.

An Ottawa man has been arrested in connection to break-and-enters at two businesses in Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood over the weekend.

The owners of local grocer Red Apron on Gladstone Avenue and the Arlington Five on Arlington Avenue reported their businesses were broken into, vandalized and robbed early Sunday morning.

The Ottawa Police Service said Monday morning that a man was arrested when officers responded to a break-in at a business on Arlington Avenue.

“Investigators believe the same individual is responsible for an additional break and enter at another commercial business in the 400 block of Gladstone Ave,” police said, but not did release the names of the businesses.

An Ottawa man in his 30s is charged with break-and-enter. Police say additional charges “may be laid.”

Jennifer Heagle, the co-owner of Red Apron, says she woke up in the middle of the night to a call from police about a break-in.

“A large window had been smashed and our cash drawers had been smashed,” Heagle said. “Our office had been ransacked and there was a lot of broken glass everywhere and stuff thrown around and a few things missing.”

Heagle spent the morning with other staff cleaning up and piecing together what happened. She says she believes it happened between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. in the morning.

Heagle says surveillance video shows a man entering the business through the broken window, taking cash and making a mess.

“I think there was a lot of unnecessary damage for sure because they were rifling through cupboards, drawers, shelves and things were dumped out onto the floor,” she said.

She says the damage and losses are in the thousands of dollars, a major hit for the small business.

She adds the incident is frustrating because she’s had concerns over activity around the property for the past few months, including an incident where a fire was lit on the patio and drug paraphernalia was found on the property.

The business is considering more security after the incident.

“The quote that we’re expecting to see for that is going to be upwards of $12,000 a year. So, it’s a lot of money for a small business to spend,” Heagle said

In the same neighbourhood, the front window of Arlington Five was smashed. The owner, Jessie Duffy, got the call from security overnight after the incident unfolded.

“When they called me, they said there had been a break-in, that police were on scene, and that they had apprehended someone and needed me to attend,” Duffy said.

Duffy says a suspect was found by police in the basement of her cafe.

“We’ve got a little staff room basement with a little couch and I guess they were hiding behind the couch there in the space,” Duffy said.

There was also cash missing and damage inside, she said.

“They grabbed close to $1,000. With the cash, we’re probably looking at, I’m told, about $1,200 and then the cost of the window being replaced,” Duffy said.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle