thief accused of repeated hits on community garden in bowmanville
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fruit and vegetables are no longer safe after a man was captured on video stealing from community garden plots in bowmanville.
liberty allotment gardens took to social media to share photos and video of the brazen veggie thief who they say hops their fence and strolls off with bags of lovingly grown crops.
the garden coordinator, who did not want to be named, called the situation “disgusting and sad,” and she and the rest of the gardeners simply want the thefts to stop.
the produce pilferer, who appears to want to get caught by wearing the brightest, most colourful shirt possible during the daytime theft shared online, is seen in security video leaving the space hauling a black duffel bag overloaded with fresh vegetables.
“sadly this man has jumped our fence now five times in five weeks,” the community garden wrote in a facebook post on wednesday.
caught in the act. (facebook)
liberty allotment garden
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facebook
who uses the garden?
they also pointed out in their message who exactly he’s stealing from — people growing food for their families and seniors on limited incomes growing food so they can eat healthy.
the garden, which opened 12 years ago and has 56 plots for the community to rent, also has a plot for gardeners who grow organic produce to donate to the local food bank.
aside from pesky rabbits and other animals feasting on some of the bountiful harvest, the garden hasn’t had too many thefts in the past to be concerned about — until now.
the thefts by the man seen on liberty allotment gardens’ social media pages began in june and started small, but have since evolved into full-blown, self-serve shopping trips.
“he has taken over 150 heads of garlic,” which cost $5 a head to replace, “100 onions,” which are $3 each to replace, as well as cucumbers.
get ready for your close-up. (facebook)
liberty allotment garden
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facebook
previous thefts
“people who garden here work hard to grow and maintain their gardens,” the facebook post continued. “yet to have him feel it’s ok to just come and steal our food is complete disregard for this community.”
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the garden has experienced thefts in the past, but the city won’t allow for an electric fence or for raising the existing one.
but the volunteers expected there to be more occurrences given that “the prices in the grocery stores were getting pretty high” — just nothing this bold.
“we’re just so fed up,” they said.
durham regional police said in a statement to the sun: “these incidents have not been reported to drps.”
the coordinator told the sun she is working on filing an extensive police report while sharing the culprit’s image online in hopes that he is recognized or identified and the thefts come to an end.
“are they local to our town, are they not local, no idea,” they said. “somebody has to know this person.”
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