It was a bizarre day for the owners of the Ocean Garden Restaurant.
About 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the owners of the restaurant at the entrance to Chinatown were alerted to a smash and grab — make that crab — of the strangest sort. A man threw a rock into the front window in an attempt to steal live crabs from a tank.
The man was arrested two hours after the attempted theft and vandalism, but in a classic case of catch and release, Victoria police believe the same man returned about 2 p.m. to throw what police called a “smoke grenade” into the restaurant.
About 30 people were inside the restaurant at the time, and everyone had to clear out in a hurry.
“Due to a delay in receiving the report, when officers arrived on scene, the building had already been evacuated,” VicPD said in a statement, adding there might have been additional witnesses to the crime nearby.
In a social media post, the owners of the restaurant said they were shocked at what happened.
“We were lucky enough to have a witness for this unfortunate event. A man found it upon himself to demolish our front door and proceeded to steal our live crabs … yes.. our live crabs,” said the post.
“Not our cash register, not our liquor or equipment. Our crabs.”
The post said the witness confronted the “distressed man and luckily got him to put the crabs back and scared him off by calling the police.”
Owner Larry Yang told CHEK News it was a “frustrating” experience.
“It’s hard to run a businesses as is, and now this happened,” he said.
Yang said new glass has been ordered to fix the damage and he will “try to run our business as usual.”
Witnesses to the morning vandalism and attempted crab theft provided photos of the suspect to police, Yang said.
Victoria police did not say if they recaptured the man, saying late Wednesday that because the investigation is ongoing, no further details were being revealed.
The man was initially released with conditions that included not to return to the business and to appear in court at a future date, police said.
VicPD says anyone charged with a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. The department operates under Bill C-75, which includes a “principle of restraint” that requires police to release an accused person at the earliest possible opportunity after considering certain factors, which include the likelihood the accused will attend court, the imminence of the risk posed to public safety and the impact on confidence in the criminal justice system.
Police ask any witnesses to the vandalism, victims inside the restaurant when the smoke grenade was used, or anyone with information is asked to assist police with their investigation. Call the report desk at 250-995-7654 extension 1 and reference file number 24-28443.
