Restaurant owner says Edmonton police damaged patio, never contacted her
The owner of Fleisch Delikatessen is pushing for more action from the Edmonton Police Service after she says officers damaged her patio.
Katy Ingraham said when she arrived at her restaurant on Aug. 17, a significant part of the patio was mangled.
The concrete barriers surrounding the outdoor seating area had been pushed into the wooden fence and tables.
Ingraham says she initially thought the damage was caused by an impaired driver and she called the police to file a report.
She said the attending officer agreed with her saying it was most likely an impaired hit and run.
But when a resident who lives nearby approached Ingraham with a video of the scene, it told a completely different story.
"There's four or five police cars and umpteen police officers all standing around. It looks like they rammed a vehicle into our patio," she said.
In a statement to CBC, Edmonton Police Service said the crash was a result of a high-speed chase.
"An EPS canine unit vehicle then completed a direct vehicle contact manoeuvre to immobilize it in the area," EPS spokesperson Carolin Maran said.
According to police, when a police call results in property damage, it is customary for the responding officers to reach out to the property owners or leave behind contact information.
But Ingraham said police did not initially contact her nor was there a note left behind.
"It's a complete lack of care for a property crime that they committed. I immediately thought, if I committed this same property crime, what would be my punishment?"
Maran said "a miscommunication among responding officers resulted in a delay in contacting the business."
Ingraham said It wasn't until she called the responding officer to let them know about the video that the damage was addressed.
"The constable, obviously feeling probably sheepish himself, told me, 'I was just about to call you and let you know that this was the case'."
In the same phone call, Ingraham said she was told the officer in charge of the incident would get in touch with her.
Ingraham maintains she never heard back from EPS.
"We pay the police in this city as taxpayers a lot of money, and there is zero transparency or accountability for anything that they do," Ingraham said.
To bring her concerns to light, Ingraham attended the Edmonton Police Commission meeting Thursday, where she spoke about the incident.
"If something like this happens, you have a duty of care to the community that you're working in, just like we all do. We're accountable to our community for the things that we do, and they need to be accountable," Ingraham said following the meeting.
EPS said they have submitted a form to the City of Edmonton Insurance and Claims Management Section and have since connected with Ingraham.
