Winnipeg business waits 40 minutes for police after alarm triggered during robbery

Fireworks store robbed A Winnipeg store owner is upset with police response times after a brazen daytime robbery. CTV's Mason DePatie reports.

A Winnipeg store owner is speaking out after a brazen daytime robbery.

Despite being located on busy Portage Avenue, Red Bomb Fireworks fell victim to a robbery Friday around 4:00 in the afternoon.

Store owner Matt Bialek said the suspect first triggered the store's alarm by trying to enter a locked door before coming through the front entrance.

"They entered the facility and started lunging towards our retail operator, and at that point in time, not only was the alarm dispatching the police, I physically was on the phone with 911," said Bialek.

Bialek said he was outside the city at the time but received a notification on his phone when the initial alarm was triggered.

He said he immediately checked the security camera feed on his phone and called the police.

"First off, the operator believed that I was not serious, that my call was not legitimate, so I actually had to prove while on the phone with 911 that we had a legitimate issue at our at our retail location."

Bialek said the lone staff member working at the store, a woman in her twenties, was able to make it to a secure back room.

As Bialek waited for police to arrive, he watched the suspect make their way through the store for around 5 minutes.

"On my phone, I watched as he casually went through every drawer, every cash area, every till. Basically, he was on his own agenda," he said.

According to Bialek, police showed up 40 minutes after the first alarm was triggered.

While damages and losses were minimal, Bialek said the emotional toll on his staff is far more important.

"She was perplexed that this was actually happening first off, and then the fear in her eyes I've never seen that."

The Winnipeg Police Service duty office said many factors, like an increase in call volumes, affect police response times.

In a statement to CTV News, Winnipeg police said officers arrived on scene 22 minutes after receiving a call.

"The police do not automatically become aware when an alarm is activated," a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service told CTV News in an email.

They said when an alarm is activated, it goes to the monitoring security company who will then decide if it meets the criteria to call the police.

"Once the Communication Centre received this call, efforts were quickly made to find available units, as well, the information was broadcast over the air to units in the area."

"To see something like this happen in broad daylight, it's totally disheartening," said Bialek, "We have no idea where to turn to next."

Concerned about future incidents, Bialek is now contacting city officials and mayoral candidates in hopes of sparking a better response.

"We're not looking for an apology here. We're looking for some plan to be developed and implemented. That plan has to take into account what's happening right now and what's happening in the future."

Ward councillor and mayoral candidate Scott Gillingham said it is frustrating to hear about what happened to the business.

"I am glad no one was hurt. Too many other businesses and homeowners are experiencing similar crime," read an email from Gillingham to CTV News.

Gillingham said he feels the response time was not quick enough and police resources need to be better managed.

"Right now, police are called on to do too much social work, and we need to find better ways of dealing with those kinds of calls," noted Gillingham in the email.