Victimized twice

Meet David Chen. He's a very typical Chinese shopkeeper. Walt occasionally patronizes his Lucky Moose grocery store in Toronto's old Chinatown. [Walt means he buys stuff there...the good kind of patronizing. ed] Any time you want live fish or chicken claws, that's the place to go.

Like most Cantonese immigrants, Mr. Chen works hard for his money, and he doesn't part with it gladly. Or his merchandise either. Which is a problem because Mr. Chen's store is a regular target of shoplifters. One in particular keeps coming back again and again. The thief is easy to recognize because he happens to be ... wait for it ... black.

This summer Mr. Chen saw the dusky miscreant ride off on his bicycle [his bicycle??? ed.] with a flat of flowers for which he had neglected to pay. When the thief came back an hour later for a second helping, Mr. Chen saw red. Well, OK, he saw black!

Mr. Chen and one of his assistants ran after the thief, tackled him, tied him up and threw him in a van until police arrived. All this was captured on video -- very enjoyable viewing. But when the police finally arrived, you'll never guess who was charged! Or maybe you will...

Yes, the "alleged shoplifter" was charged with theft under. But Mr. Chen, who was only trying to protect his property and his livelihood, had the book thrown at him! He was charged with assault, kidnapping, forcible confinement, and carrying a concealed weapon (a box-cutter which is a tool of the trade that Mr. Chen normally carries in his pocket). The cops (wonder what colour they were) gave him a break and didn't charge him with race hate crime.

Fast forward to the court proceedings. The shoplifter (or his legal aid lawyer) cut a deal with the Crown and got off with 30 days, in spite of his lengthy previous record. Oh yes, he also agreed to testify against Mr. Chen.

The Crown announced its intention to proceed against Mr. Chen on all counts, but yesterday, in the face of public outrage, withdrew the kidnapping and weapons charge. Mr. Chen, seen here leaving the Old City Hall court, said he's disappointed because he had hoped the Crown would withdraw all the charges against him.

He will have to wait until June to have the remaining charges heard. Meanwhile, his business is suffering because he has been too busy with lawyers and court appearances to devote his full attention to it.

Moral of the story. There's a big difference between the law and justice. There is nothing even remotely just about this entire affair. If you agree, please write to the Hon. Chris Bentley, Attorney-General of Ontario, McMurtry-Scott Building, 720 Bay Street, 11th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5G 2K1. You can send an e-mail by going to http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/feedback.asp?Referer=http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/ where you'll find an online form.

As for the Toronto police "service", you can forget about "serve and protect". Was Mr. Chen served and protected? Ha! Hahaha!! All the police care about is getting convictions to show that they are doing something about crime, and so justify their fat salaries and donut allowances. In Mr. Chen's case, they had a gift -- a chance to score four convictions for major offences, rather than one for petty crime. Disgraceful!