Store Owner Accused Of Kidnapping Shoplifter A Victim Of Crime: Kenney
Posted September 28, 2009 6:47 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A shop-owner accused of kidnapping an alleged shoplifter is himself a victim of crime, MP Jason Kenney said on Sunday.
The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism was speaking about David Chen, who owns the Lucky Moose in Chinatown.
Back in May, Chen’s case made headlines when he chased after an alleged thief.
In an attempt to detain him until police arrived, he tied the man up and threw him in the back of a van owned by the business.
“I get him, he punched me, so I can’t hold him, so I (found) string to tie his hand and feet. I wanted him charged,” Chen explained
Chen is now facing charges of kidnapping, forcible confinement and assault.
That doesn’t sit well with Kenney.
“I regard Mr. Chen as a victim of crime and so many of these other shop-owners are. We need to keep that in mind and the law should keep that in mind, that property owners have a right to use reasonable means to protect their property.”
Kenney promised that he would call for reforms to Canada’s Criminal Code.
“That’s something I’ve committed to look at.”
However, Kenney didn’t comment specifically on whether Chen himself should have been charged.
