The owner of Lakes Pharmacy, in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, says the police response to the business’s recent break-ins has been inadequate.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Some small business owners in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis say they are growing frustrated as their businesses are being broken in to over and over with no help from police.
Lakes Pharmacy is one of those businesses. The owner says her store was broken into multiple times and, when she calls police, nobody responds.
Saida Mohamed got a call from her upstairs neighbor at 3 a.m. Tuesday telling her that people are breaking into her store for the fourth time this year.
She said she is frustrated because nobody is protecting businesses in the Seward community.
“Nobody comes here,” Mohamed said. “Who’s going to come here? They’re going to protect the Uptown, yes. They’re going to protect downtown, yes. But who’s going to come here? Nobody showed up.”
Other small businesses along East Franklin Avenue, and residents in nearby apartments met with Mohamed Tuesday in her store that’s now boarded up. They worry this predominantly East African community is getting left behind.
“They put the National Guard there, why not here?” she asked. “They put money on Lake Street, why not here? Are we not business owners?”
“We want to tell the mayor, you are not the mayor for a certain batch of this city,” said Abdirizak Bihi, a Seward resident. “You are the mayor of Minneapolis and this is Minneapolis. We want you to provide services and that’s public safety.”
Residents there are asking city leaders to step in before they have nothing left.
Minneapolis Police say there has been an uptick in burglaries and they are aware of this incident, which police say is under investigation. Police could not provide more details or say if they spoke with Mohamed.
