Ottawa Police fail to show up after telling robbery victim to meet with suspects

On Friday, Oct. 28, a mission was underway to retrieve stolen property from alleged thieves.

John McCavour’s car was broken into the previous night at Meadowbrook place across from College Square on Baseline road.   They stole his leather coat, iPod and its corresponding accessories and had posted the items for sale on Kijiji on Friday morning. 

That afternoon, McCavour noticed his items for sale on line and immediately contacted the authorities.  Jenn Brayton, McCavour’s girlfriend, recounts what the cops told him.

“He called the cops; they suggested we meet in a public place.  We had arranged to have them meet us at Home Depot and come with us to Tim Hortons to confront the thieves.”

 So, I, along with Brayton, posed as anonymous buyers attempting to purchase the items from the thieves who posted the items on Kijiji that morning.  Brayton had contacted the thieves and set up a meeting at Tim Horton’s in College Square at 6:30 pm.

The victim of the robbery, McCavour, was hovering nearby, waiting for a text from either of us to confirm we had established contact and verified that the items did indeed belong to McCavour.

The meeting went down as planned.  The thieves sat down next to us at exactly 6:30 p.m. with the coat and the iPod.  Brayton was able to verify with absolute certainty that the possessions were indeed that of her boyfriend, John.  I sent a text message to McCavour alerting him to enter the coffee shop and apprehend the thieves with the cops.

Only one problem; the cops never showed up.

Luckily enough, McCavour was still able to retrieve his stolen property from the thieves.  He simply walked up and confronted the frail, twitchy male and demanded he return what was rightfully his.  The man and woman, both in their early twenties, cowered in despair when confronted, and without hesitation nervously handed over the possessions.

While this encounter worked out in the victim’s favor, one has to wonder what could have gone wrong without the cop’s presence?

Brayton feared the worst when she saw her boyfriend walk in and confront the thieves. 

“They [thieves] could have showed up with a weapon, like a gun.”

Emotions were running high and you never know what strangers are capable of in hostile situations.

“Of course I was nervous, I was just hoping this would go down okay,” added Brayton.

As you can imagine Friday nights are typically busy times for the police.  One of the several officers who spoke with John did mention there is a distinct possibility no one will be able to come and assist him. 

“The [police officer] wanted to let me know that between four and eight p.m. is extremely busy for them with traffic and whatnot, and that if he doesn’t show up that I am not to go through with the interaction,” said McCavour.

Although McCavour went against police advice, he felt as though he had no choice.

“I mentioned [to the officer] that they were selling my iPod on Kijiji for fifty bucks.  There were already seventy views.  It was cheap.  My stuff was going to be gone.”

The authorities followed up their investigation with McCavour, phoning him on Friday, Nov, 11, exactly two weeks after the mission took place.

Business Administration student Mitchell Bird believes the cops should have done more.

“I don't think this is an adequate response by the police. The fact that they couldn't have one to two officers show up and arrest these potential thieves. I would have done the same thing in the situation John was in, go in and get your stuff back yourself if the police don't want to show up and help.”