A 39-year-old woman from Guelph has been charged with theft after police say she was caught taking apples from a Woolwich Township orchard.
Police were called to the orchard Sunday evening which has confirmed was Shuh Orchards in West Montrose.
Police say the orchard’s owner caught a customer removing apples from an approved picking bag and was seen loading them into her trunk.
Police say the woman paid for some apples, but also stole about 17 kg (or 39 lbs) of apples.
She has been charged with one count of theft under $5,000.
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Tim Shuh says he caught some customers smuggling apples out of the orchard in their stroller. (Submitted by Tim Shuh)
It prompted Shuh to impose bans on things like wagons, strollers and backpacks in the orchard rows.
“We realized that with that many people on the farm, it was difficult to keep track,” he said.
For Shuh, going to an agritourism farm like his is supposed to be a special experience, but the rising issue of stealing has made him consider whether his U-pick operation is worth the trouble.
“We don’t know if we would want to do this forever if this would continue,” he said. “If everyone was stealing from us, certainly we’d shut down tomorrow.”
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New rules to curb orchard theft
In just the first two weeks of Shuh Orchard’s U-pick season, owner Tim Shuh says he believes at least 225 kg (or 500 lbs) of apples were stolen, adding that figure is erring on “the extreme side of conservatism.” “There’s no way with 4,000 people on our farm … that we were able to get even half the people that were stealing,” he told in an interview last week.Source link
