Winnipeggers say recent alleged assault by staff not the first at Portage Avenue grocery store

Two Winnipeg women say a recent alleged attack against a woman accused of shoplifting at a local grocery store isn't the first time employees at the business have harmed people. 

Angela Antoine told CBC News that last Sunday, she saw a store supervisor at the Foodfare on Portage Avenue at Arlington Street punch a woman after accusing her of stealing food.

Antoine believes the woman — who told her she is First Nations — was racially profiled by staff.

Winnipeg police showed up soon after to take statements from the woman, employees and witnesses, she said.

Police said they are investigating the incident.

The woman who was allegedly attacked declined a request for an interview with CBC through Antoine, who kept in touch with her following the incident.

But two other women — who contacted CBC News separately after a report about the Sunday incident — say they're concerned about the alleged violence at the store, and say they witnessed similar incidents involving customers last summer.

Cate Friesen said she saw a Foodfare employee kick a woman in the face last August, after the woman was accused of shoplifting. The woman was bleeding, and Friesen said she called 911 on her behalf. 

"It concerns me that we're normalizing this and that somehow the possibility that they might have shoplifted gives somebody the right to punch them or to kick them," said Friesen, a former producer with CBC Manitoba.  

"It's normalizing something that's not normal."

Friesen said the woman told her she was homeless and identified as Indigenous.

Alison Norberg says on Aug. 24 — just a day after the incident Friesen reported — she saw a female staff member punch a woman in the head at a bus stop at Portage Avenue and Burnell Street, which is next to the store.

The woman, who Norberg said appeared to be Indigenous, was sitting on a bus bench, when two employees came out of the store and seemed to be trying to grab something from her.

"She was holding onto her sweater as they were trying to grab something, kind of back and forth, and then one of the employees, a woman, from what I could see, was punching her in the head," said Norberg, who was near the bench waiting to get on a bus.

"That disrupted things enough that she also let go and a jug of juice went flying."

Norberg then had to board her bus, but said the driver later called in his supervisor, who then contacted police. 

Norberg also filed a police report. 

Winnipeg police spokesperson Const. Jason Michalyshen confirmed in an email to CBC News officers responded to reports of assaults at the Foodfare on both days in August.

He said the first woman had been accused of shoplifting and didn't press charges. Officers cautioned an employee.

Michalyshen said police responded to a "physical altercation" involving a suspected shoplifter and staff on Aug. 24. No one was arrested. 

Although the incident happened months ago, Norberg said she wanted to speak up because she's concerned about Foodfare's overall approach to deal with shoplifting.

"When we're getting into petty shoplifting by individuals who are poor, struggling, maybe dealing with substance abuse issues, unhoused or underhoused, we need to find a better way," she said.

"We've been finding better ways bit by bit in other settings and other sectors of the city, and so I think it's time for the retail sector to step up."

'Aggressive front' to deter shoplifters

Munther Zeid, who owns the Portage Avenue Foodfare location, said in an Instagram post earlier this week the employee accused of punching the woman last Sunday had been suspended.

Zeid told CBC Friday the employee dealt with the situation incorrectly, and added he doesn't tolerate racial profiling of any kind.

"We're faced with a lot of shoplifters of many different races," said Zeid. "They're not all Indigenous."

Zeid said he won't release security footage of the Sunday incident while he's having discussions about the incident with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which has condemned the incident, but he did show it to CBC News on Friday.

The video shows two women and a child by a counter, all three of whom appear to be together. A man who appears to be yelling approaches one of the women, and tries to grab her bag.

The other woman then pushes the child back toward the entrance. The man then shoves the first woman toward the counter, and they both move closer to the entrance of the store. 

The first woman swings her fist at the man's face, but misses. The man in the video then punches her in the face with a closed fist and she falls. 

The second woman moves toward the man, and he appears to hit her too.

"We have two issues here that we believe.… the lady that found it necessary to shoplift and a young man that found it necessary to act the way he did. Both are incorrect," said Zeid.

"I'm a grocer trying to survive in a very competitive business in which shoplifting has grown. We deal with it daily. Are we aggressive? We show an aggressive front, but we are not in the business of hurting people," he said. 

Zeid said he's never advocated for employees to act violently toward shoplifters, though "our policy is: try to get the product back." 

He acknowledged the "many [news] stories" in which he holds a baseball bat when speaking on the issue.

"We're trying to use the baseball bat and say, 'Give us our stuff back and move along,' and 99.9 per cent of the time that is the case," he said. 

"I'll do whatever I need to do to prevent shoplifters from coming to the store, to protect the lives and the safety of my customer and my staff. Will I use a bat? I hope not." 

'Not worth dying for a pack of gum'

Zeid said shoplifters tend to give the product back when staff approach them, but that doesn't always happen — some staff have been threatened with knives, machetes and bear spray.

"Our lives are threatened every time we approach a shoplifter," he said. "Sometimes people throw shots at us, but ... most people will drop their stuff and leave."

He said he's been told by police not to physically intervene, a message he's passed on to family and staff.

"The slightest little hit … could cause death. At the end of the day, it's not worth dying for a pack of gum or a package of wieners or a piece of cheese or something like that. But this business is our life," he said.

"We don't have deep pockets to allow shoplifting to happen, sort of like the bigger stores that have the policy of 'do not engage.' It's hard for me to see somebody take something and walk out the door."

Following reports of last Sunday's incident, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the incident was "not acceptable," and that the organization was cutting its ties with Foodfare.

Zeid said he's in talks with the AMC about how to move forward. 

"With discussions with the AMC, we're hoping to learn, understand and move forward," he said.

"With an open mind by both sides, I believe we can resolve this and we'll both come out from this learning and understanding from one another."