Business Owner Takes Action Against Crime in London, Ont.

The owner of an auto shop in London, Ont., says crime, homelessness, and drug use have spiraled out of control downtown, prompting him to build a 7½-foot fence topped with barbed wire to keep squatters off his property.

Nemat Karimy took over the auto shop at 575 York Street four years ago. Since then, he’s been facing ongoing issues with squatters, vandals, drug users, and thieves.

“I’ve had them break into my shop so many times and steal my tools,” he shared on Friday.

Karimy mentioned that he parks several cars outside his business for spare parts. Unfortunately, at night, people sleep in them, defecate nearby, and use drugs inside the vehicles-leaving behind dirty needles throughout his parking lot.

Auto shop has lost $10K to crime in last year

He’s experienced thefts of catalytic converters, aluminum parts, and important documents like ownership and insurance papers from the cars. If he leaves a customer’s vehicle overnight in his lot, it risks being broken into.

‘On Thursday, they set a car on fire’

Nemat Karimy says crime has gotten so bad that he’s now building a seven-and-a-half-foot tall fence with barbed wire to protect against squatters.

“I end up paying for the repair of the cars and sometimes I find myself arguing with customers.”

On Thursday morning, Karimy received a call from the London Police Service. An officer informed him that someone had set one of his parts cars on fire. The London Fire Department managed to extinguish it but not before causing severe damage. Karimy was forced to scrap a 2014 Nissan Sentra he bought for $1,200 for just $400.

The charred remains of a 2014 Nissan Sentra still lay in Karmy’s yard from a fire lit by vandals on Thursday. (Colin Butler/)

“I end up junking them at Zubick’s,” he said about the cars he’s lost. “I sell them for one-third of what I paid.”

Karimy noted that thieves are becoming more daring as well. Just last week when his wife visited him at the auto shop, someone attempted to break into her car while she was inside the building just to grab loose change from the center console.

“Change. While we were right here on the property,” he said while adding that thieves also broke into his shop washroom recently and cut insulation off walls trying to steal copper pipes.

“If they cut those pipes, do you know how much damage it would cause? Water would be everywhere and I’d have flooding all because of two dollars’ worth of copper.”

The impact from these crimes has become so severe that he can’t even make claims through insurance anymore since his provider threatens to raise rates over 30 percent.

‘Nobody is helping’

As a result, Karimy has had to pay out-of-pocket-something he estimates has cost him around $10,000 within just the last year alone.

Karimy took over the auto shop at 575 York Street four years ago. (Colin Butler/)

He believes putting up a fence is now his only real option due to what he sees as little help coming from police or city officials.

This new barrier will surround his property featuring barbed wire along with an automated gate equipped with keypad entry plus six surveillance cameras-all costing nearly $45,000.

“Nobody is helping,” he said. “I’m barely covering my costs.. I’ve got plenty of customers sure-but they’re not paying enough for me to stay afloat.”

“If our leaders don’t address these issues head-on; nothing will change. If I were visiting downtown London from Toronto or somewhere else-I’d feel embarrassed.”

“This location has potential-it’s downtown,” he expressed regretfully adding “Now I’m regretting my decision but it’s too late; quitting isn’t an option as my family depends on this business.”.