Business owners, mayor concerned about break-ins in Riverview, N.B.

It’s been a rough couple of days for a small business owner in Riverview, NB.

Will Campbell got a call early Monday morning saying someone had broken into his shop, The Ice Cream Barn.

“Things were pretty messed up,” said Campbell.

Campbell said security cameras were stolen, windows and doors were broken, almost all of tubs of ice cream were thrown on the lawn or across the street and his debit machine was also broken.

Over $1,100 in damage was done to the small ice cream hut on Pinewood Road.

“It’s very disappointing. It hit me pretty hard. It’s still kind of hard to talk about it. It was really hard to talk about it to anybody on Monday when it had happened. It’s a really awful feeling in your stomach to see what had happened and to try and figure out just what you’re going to do to fix it,” said Campbell.

The Ice Cream Barn was closed for a day, but Campbell is slowly getting back on his feel.

The Homestead Restaurant on Coverdale Road, Riverview, N.B., July 17, 2024 (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)

Sgt. Joel Arsenault of the Codiac Regional RCMP said four youths were involved in the break-in.

“There is one youth arrested for that,” said Arsenault. “There was definitely some mischief that took place.”

Multiple break-ins

Arsenault confirmed the RCMP is also investigating break-ins at three other businesses. The Homestead Restaurant, Walton’s Bakeshop and Ji's Art Studio, all located on Coverdale Road, were broken into early last week.

Walton's Bakeshop owner Fred Crawford said someone broke into his place in the early morning hours of July 8.

Crawford said the front window was broken and someone crawled in and created a huge mess. Freezers were opened causing food to spoil and an oven door was broken. Crawford estimates there was around $5,000 in damage.

Fred Crawford is the owner of Walton's bake shop in Riverview, N.B., July 17, 2024 (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)

“This is the bedroom community, you know. It’s usually pretty quiet, pretty easy here. It’s the overflow I think from Moncton. They’ve got to find someplace else to steal things,” said Crawford.

He’d like to see an increase in police patrols.

“I don’t know what patrol they do, but they should do more whatever they’re doing,” said Crawford.

During the early morning hours of July 9 there was a break-in at the popular Homestead Restaurant.

“We did lose a little bit of cash money that happened to be lying around,” said co-owner John Godfrey, who didn’t want to disclose just how much money was stolen.

“Riverview was always considered a bedroom community of Moncton and we’ve no question, in today’s brave new world, lost that status,” said Godfrey.

Last Friday, the front of Ergon Thrift on Trites Road was spray painted, but management was able to remove the bright orange paint by themselves.

'It’s really hard'

Arsenault didn’t want to label the incidents as a rash in crimes and said there hasn’t been a large influx of calls coming from Riverview.

Campbell said it’s hard to hear about the break-ins.

Andrew Leblanc, the mayor of Riverview, N.B., July 17, 2024. (Derek Haggett/CTV Atlantic)

“I love going to Walton’s and the Homestead. I go there all the time. The Homestead helped me when I got started and I love supporting them,” said Campbell. “It’s really hard and upsetting to see that this also happened to them especially in such a short time frame.”

Riverview Mayor Andrew LeBlanc issued a statement on public safety in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

“I think it was important for the residents and the business owners in town to hear from their municipal government, to know that we’re aware of the issues. That we understand that they’re concerned about it and that we’re working hard to address those concerns,” LeBlanc said in an interview with CTV News on Wednesday.

LeBlanc said the Increase in petty crime in the town has got everybody on high alert.

“One of the things I said in my post is generally Riverview residents feel Riverview is a safe place to live and I think lately they’ve felt a little less safe than we’re used to in the Town of Riverview. So we have an obligation at that point to address those concerns and to talk about what we’re doing to improve the situation,” said LeBlanc.

That includes speaking directly to members of the Codiac Regional RCMP, who LeBlanc said they have a great working relationship with.

“We talked about increased presence, an increase in patrols to help some of the issues that have happened lately and they’re more than willing to work with us on that and increase the presence,” said LeBlanc.

Like the business owners, LeBLanc is disappointed to hear about the crimes taking place in the community.

“This is not the kind of thing we want to see in the Town of Riverview. I don’t think it’s the kind of thing anybody wants to see anywhere,” he said.

Sgt. Arsenault said at this point there have been no arrests. Last week’s break and enters are still under investigation.

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