5 teenage girls arrested after Winnipeg liquor store theft

Fiveteenage girls were arrested and charged this week, after Winnipeg police say they attempted to steal bottles of liquor from a Manitoba Liquor Mart on Wednesday evening.

Winnipeg police Const. Rob Carvertold CBC News police arrived at the Tyndall Market Liquor Mart on Keewatin Streetat 6:20 p.m.,just in time to catch the thieves in the act.

The five teens, whose precise ages were not disclosed, were charged at the scene with theft under $5,000. Some of the product was recovered, but Carver wasn't able to say how much of it, or how much it was worth.

A video, posted toRedditby a user on Friday, appears to show a group of girls wearing hoodiespulling bottles of liquor off the shelves of a Liquor Mart, identified in the video's title as the Tyndall Market store, and putting them in bags. Carver confirmed police are aware of the video.

"We've seen shoplifting thefts where groups come into various retail locationsnot just liquor stores. It happens all over the country," Carver said.

"Some distract staff, some grab stuff and run out. It's not common, but it's not unusual."

CBC Newsasked Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries for a comment Saturday morning.

Curbing shoplifting at liquor stores

In 2017, there were approximately 658 thefts in Manitoba Liquor Marts reported to Winnipeg police. In 2018, the number jumped to 2,602 a spike of nearly 300 per cent.

In March of this year, theCrown corporation implemented new initiatives to curb theft from its liquor stores.

By May, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries said theft and robbery incidents had dropped 23 per cent.

It also said there was a55 per cent drop in the cost to Manitoba Liquor Marts of bottle theft, and a 20 per cent increase in the number of arrests following the new measures.

The corporation's security push included putting loss-prevention officers trained to catch thieves after they've left stores, using citizens'powers of arrest to hold them until police arrive in stores during peaktimes.

Other efforts includedchecking customers' ID at the front door of Liquor Marts, using bottle locks and lockable shelf cases, and requiring customers to ask staff for high-value bottles.