What specifically happened in the theft, per the report.

A recounting from the police report:

How the incident occurred (plus observations):
I arranged to meet with a guy named Matthias who posted a “roommates” wanted” ad on Craigslist. The ad was posted Sunday, but by Monday, he and his other roommates had found a candidate. Through our email correspondence, we learnt that we shared similar music interests in German popular music from the 1980s. He offered o have us meet for coffee at the Starbucks located at Guy et Maisonneuve at 6:00p Tuesday.

I arrived 15 minutes late due to my prior roommate interview. Matthias was waiting in front of Starbucks, holding his bicycle helmet. We introduced and I apologised for being late. We went inside to order. We both ordered a slice of chocolate carrot cake, and I also ordered a coffee. With my messenger bag still on my back, I went to the back of the room to add cream and sugar. The area was next to the washrooms. Matthias followed me and said he was going to use the washroom. I went to sit down at a tabe with two chairs, located near the front entrance, next to the glass entrance vestibule. I sat facing outward at avenue Guy, my back turned to the remainder of the café.

Matthias joined me about a minute later. He said the washroom door was locked and said he would wait until later at his next engagement (a concert from 7:00p). He mentioned that he could not stay as long as he had hoped because of my late arrival. For the next 15 minutes, we talked about music. At some point, I asked what he did for a living, and he mentioned his work in motion picture production and photography. Because I am a film photographer, I asked whether he was familiar with Kodachrome. When he responded, “I think so,” I reached down to my messenger bag to take out a roll of Kodachrome to show him. My bag was halfway underneath my chair and halfway to the left of the chair. My left foot’s heel was either touching the bag or very close to doing so. I showed Matthias the roll, then returned it to my messenger bag without unclipping the top flap. About 5 minutes later, as he’s about to leave, he either received or made a call from his mobile phone to say to his friend that he was running a few minutes late, but would meet them nearby. We said out goodbyes and agreed to stay in touch after my arrival in September, [and he] add[ed] to enjoy the rest of my carrot cake. He got up to leave and started walking to the entry vestibule. He had gone through the first door and was going through the second door when I reached down to find my bag was missing. I ran out to him to tell him. He looked surprised. I asked to borrow his mobile to call 9-1-1. I made the call, then returned the phone to him. I immediately rode my bike down to the police station on William to file my report.

Other minor details:

my keys (including my hotel keys) had been on the table. When I ran outside to get Matthias, he noted, “Don’t forget your keys on that table.” These could be seen through the window.
Matthias and I parted ways once I said I was riding my bike to the police station.
At my arrival, Matthias warned me to lock my bike well, because bike thefts are frequent in Montréal (as they are in Toronto).

Stolen objects, in brief:
Crumpler “Complete Seed” bicycle messenger bag in two-tone orange and black; MacBook Pro (Santa Rosa) 15.4″ (included, inter alia, thesis notes and all academic work for 2008-09); Crumpler “School Hymn” laptop case in green and yellow; Asahi Pentax H2 SLR camera body; 50mm Super Takumar f/1.4 lens; Nikon F-801s camera body; Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 lens; Sigma AF Zoom 18-35mm f/3.5 lens; SMC Pentax-A 645 75mm f/2.8 lens; Fujifilm J100 digital point-and-shoot camera; Kodachrome film (7 rolls, two additional loaded in cameras, 3 already shot); two Crumpler “Thirsty Al” pouches (red and green); Nokia E62 mobile phone; wallet (with all identification, driver’s licence; credit cards, etc.); passport; university admission paperwork; student loan paperwork; birth certificate; iPod Nano 1G white 2GB; bicycle repair tools; VIA Rail return ticket to Toronto; set of 58mm lens filters (seven total); Nikon SB-22s speedlight unit; Pentax shutter release cable; file folder portfolio (for couriering and business cards).

Since filing this report, I have now heard five separate stories about theft in downtown Montréal Starbucks from five wholly independent people who don’t know one another. I have heard of novel manuscripts with two years’ work invested, never to be recovered, never to be re-written; laptops (including one retrieved after a chase by the owner, returned only after police apprehended both suspect and victim, per état civil, the way law is in Québec); briefcase with laptop and passport; and book bags. There are only two Starbucks in the central business district; one was confirmed to happen at the other location, but the rest happened (or assumed to have happened) at the Guy/Maisonneuve location.

So basically, with exception to the Anglo ghetto locations out west, I would entirely avoid Starbucks in Montréal. With such a reputation for theft there, and for the fact that the Starbucks security camera was disconnected months ago (no valid reason given), it makes me wonder whether some of staff are complicit, getting a kickback from the liquidated loot. Five different incidents from five far-flung people in one week is no longer a coincidence in my book.

As an urban designer, I have some investigative data gathering to do.

15 Responses to "What specifically happened in the theft, per the report."

slaglepuss says:
Sunday, 16 August 2009 at 19:37:47
Makes me want to bring a honeypot bag rigged with mace when I visit in September.
1. Astrid says:
  Sunday, 16 August 2009 at 21:33:00
  Mace would only annoy them, and you could get in trouble for it.
  Makes me want to tuck myself in a corner at that Starbucks every damn day with a small video camera in hand to document each and every time a lifting happens. I won’t give chase. I’ll just go about my day. Then when I’ve amassed a few incidents, walk into SPVM No. 20, fling them the SD card, and say, “I’m doing your work for you. This has everything you need to set up a sting operation, and this is because you rolled your eyes when I came in to file my theft report. Bon jour et bon chance.”
  If that didn’t do anything, then onto the newspapers. I think there’s more going on here than seen at face value.
  Don’t yet know where I’ll be in September, but we should all grab something to eat when the time comes.
2. slaglepuss says:
  Sunday, 16 August 2009 at 22:19:28
  Good luck with that – freelance police work :)
  we’re in town for the tattoo convention on the 7th (I think). Friday night I’m getting tattooed, an aturday night we’re at the con for the contest (the piece I’m getting done is being entered). Saturday is probably free though :) I cant remeber, are you vegetarian? If bot I would suggest Schwartzes :)
3. Astrid says:
  Sunday, 16 August 2009 at 22:36:11
  Well, actually I’m looking at it also from an urban design study on private spacing used by the public and “patron surveillance” (akin to “proprietor surveillance” in urban design/planning). I’m trying to understand how and why this, a social-based crime, appears to happen so often in Montréal, while in other cities, it’s far less common. Already, some interesting theories have been advanced by others that have left me thinking about a lot. Of course, if I knew precisely who did this to my bag, I’d want to nail that teabag to the wall (and I’m pretty sure there’s a teabag on that person).
  I’m not vegetarian any longer. And Schwartz’s is a thing of wonder. I’ve always gone alone and thus at the counter, so having a table would be especially nice. Eating is v.v. serious business there. I was lucky to have gone the night before the theft, when I was really tired but in high spirits. I’m fairly certain that Schwartz’s is kosher health food. :)
Astrid says:
Monday, 17 August 2009 at 01:36:01
It’s at this point a hunch, a hypothesis — nothing more. Also, I’m eyeing Guy/Maisonneuve here as more problematic, given a number of factors (location, corner placement, sneaky side exit, access to STM Métro entrances, the sheer number of people recounting when other theft happened there, the “oh gosh we haven’t had our camera hooked up in months” spiel, etc.).
I’ve seen the Ste-Catherine location from across the street from inside the brasserie located there and sussed that that location is a different kettle of fish, though understandably well-poised as a place to lift from people assumed to be tourists.
In the case of the Guy/Maisonneuve *$, do you think if someone is illicitly getting a kickback or quid pro quo that they’d broadcast it to the world? Doubtful. Down-low? More likely.
thecherrybomb says:
Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 00:30:44
My wallet was stolen from the second cup at parc and Milton.
I’m sorry you had this happen to you. Someone in my program had their laptop stolen from the presse cafe in the same area.
1. Astrid says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 05:52:49
  Thanks for your condolences on this and especially so on recounting your experience and your colleague’s. It’s illuminating and a launching point into a new area of urban research that appears to be emerging from this experience.
  Meanwhile I’ll slowly, ever slowly, rebuild my life. I have about 10 days left in Toronto to at least get the basics out of the way (such as identification paperwork and replacing bike tools that were in the bag), but the intangibles are just gone. That’s what sucks the most.
2. thecherrybomb says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:29:09
  I would be heartbroken and incredibly sad about the loss of work. Do you have insurance? I recently had to purchase apartment insurance and I think they said it covers personal theft as well as long as they are belongings that would be covered by your insurance.
3. Astrid says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:32:14
  I did not have insurance, but when I move to Montréal next month, it is high on my list of tasks to shop for and set up.
4. thecherrybomb says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:37:12
  Montreal is pretty notorious for personal theft… way more so than I ever heard of in Toronto.
  Several people I know had their cars broken into – I haven’t known anyone whose car has been broken into in Toronto.
  An office I worked at was robbed TWICE in the three months I was working there.
  Definitely worth insurance – we got some for $21/mo (or so) from TD Meloche Monnex – they give a discount for UofT & McGill grads as well as current students (and other universities), I think.
5. Astrid says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:41:08
  It probably doesn’t hurt that I’m a TD Canada Trust customer, either, but yeah. This is definitely good knowledge to have. I’ll check into it.
  [Unrelated: even though I was flaky as hell in 2005 when we tried to arrange to hang out in Toronto, we're still on speaking terms/friends, ys?]
6. thecherrybomb says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:47:28
  Yes, of course! I just haven’t been on LJ in months and was bad at keeping up with it even before then. No worries, there. I’m excited to read about your experience in Mtl since I just returned.
  What are you studying? I feel like it must be something to do with urban planning? A friend is studying something along those lines at McGill currently.
7. Astrid says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 15:55:03
  Yeah. Masters of Urban Planning, specialization in design. The thing that will take some getting used to (aside from living there practically, given all the crash sofas littered about the schools of urban planning and arch) is being in such a miniscule cohort. I’m going from several thousand to, like 25 (or 5 if just counting the design specialization people). So chances are, if your friends is studying in the grad stream there, there’s probably about a 100 percent chance I’ll know their name by October (or November, since I suck at names).
8. thecherrybomb says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 16:01:32
  i checked his FB and he is in the grad stream at McGill in Urban Planning. Not sure what his specialty is, though. His name is Jonathan and I think this would be his last year (it’s a 2 year program, I think).
  I was in a cohort with about 40 people… surprisingly (or not) I didn’t know everyone’s name but that’s because I was pretty anti social and our classes were small so it was actually possible not to meet everyone in classes.
9. Astrid says:
  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 at 16:06:48
  Huh. Well, I’ll have to keep my eye open. Most of my courses are year one compulsory, but a couple are for either year. And it’s true: you probably end up seeing a lot of a handful of people and very little of the other remainder. It’s basically 25+25 for a total of fifty in SoUP (as I’m calling it), and the design offering is new this year. So I guess that would be 25+(20+5), or sth. I hope they don’t require us to conduct high math, or I’m as good as a packed, heavy, bright orange messenger bag in a Guy/Maisonneuve *$. >:(
  And hey, I’m anti-social too! Public relations fail! :P

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