No indication burglarized flower shop with ties to Ottawa Jewish community was hate-motivated: police

A popular flower shop on Bank Street near Billings Bridge with ties to the Ottawa Jewish community was burglarized and ransacked sometime overnight of Nov. 13.

The Ottawa Police confirmed Tuesday morning that they had responded to a call at that location at around 10 a.m. on Nov. 13.

OPS said in a statement that while the store has close ties to the Jewish community, there is no indication that the incident was hate-motivated at this time.

"Although the store and owner have close ties to the Jewish community, at this time there is no indication that the incident was hate motivated," the statement by police said.

"The break and enter unit is investigating."

Employees for Langdon's Flowers on 1400 Bank Street says they found their store had been destroyed by burglars upon arriving at the store at around 8:30 a.m. on Monday.

Langdon's is a well-known supplier for the majority of synagogues and other Jewish establishments in the Ottawa-area. The burglars took money and some iPads, but many valuables were also left behind.

CTV News Ottawa was at the scene and found plants had been knocked down, destroyed and spray paint had been plastered all over the walls.

• Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

"Every part of the store has been turned inside out," said Pavel Bogdanov, the owner of Ottawa Flowers which owns Langdon's Flowers.

"To us initially we thought it was a burglary – they took some stuff of value, but there's other things of value that were left behind. The fact that they took their time to spray stuff and really turn the store upside down really made us think that it's more than just a burglary."

 

Scene of a burglarized flower shop on Bank Street. (Chris Black/CTV News Ottawa)

Bogdanov would not definitively say what the reason was for the burglary.

He says the Ottawa Police Hate Crime Unit was on the scene and officers told him the burglary was suspicious.

"Police spent three or four hours here and they thought it looked like more than just a robbery," Bogdanov said.

CTV News Ottawa attended the scene and found plants had been knocked apart, destroyed and spray paint had been plastered all over the walls. (Chris Black/CTV News Ottawa)

The store is still waiting for adjusters to find the cost of the damage but the owner says the estimated damage is between $50,000 to $100,000.

"It makes me worry for the safety of my team," Bogdanov said.

"They clearly went out of their way to destroy every part, from the garage to the office space. Either kids were having fun or they were trying to make a point."

An investigation into the crime is ongoing.