Walkerville restaurant owner calling for police help after multiple break-ins

A Walkerville, Ont. business owner is frustrated and looking for help after a series of break-ins and the random appearance of a discarded gun at his restaurant.

Tom Sotiriadis opened Milos Greek Grill a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, suffering from two of the worst years he’s ever been in the restaurant business.

“We had some really, really tough times, especially being a new business, and it was really disheartening,” says Sotiriadis. “And now, we're dealing with a totally different problem.”

The restauranteur says he’s had four attempted break-ins and two successful break-ins at Milos over the past 10 weeks. It’s so frequent, he’s no longer replacing the glass doors, instead leaving wood boarding over the door to avoid repeated costly repairs.

This .357 handgun was found in a storage area behind Milos Greek Grill in Walkerville, Ont. on July 7, 2022. (Source: Tom Sotiriadis)

“After working so hard and being patient with COVID. Now, when it's really time to flourish, we're really working to pay for repairs and damages,” he says.

Sotiriadis posted pictures of a smashed front window and boarded up doors on social media, noting over the years, the bill for damage, repairs and stolen merchandise has added up to $50,000.

He also got a big surprise a few weeks ago when he found a .357 magnum ditched in a storage area behind the restaurant.

“It got thrown on the corner of our property in a little storage area. I happened to just be back there cleaning with my wife and looked down. I saw it and thought, ‘Okay, this is like a little toy gun here,’” he recalls. “As soon as I picked it up, and the weight, I knew it was not a toy gun anymore.”

He’s calling on police to increase presence in the early hours of the morning when most of this activity seems to be happening.

A broken window at Milos Greek Grill as seen on Oct. 23, 2022. Over the past two months, numerous windows and doors have been smashed at the Walkerville, Ont. restaurant. (Source: Tom Sotiriadis)

“I feel we need something like the problem oriented policing unit to be here to help patrol and support Walkerville,” Sotiriadis says. “It's a great little community, and I just feel something needs to be done, really fast.”

Sotiriadis says he has reported his issues to police.

In conversations with Walkerville’s Business Improvement Association, he’s been told dozens of other businesses are also reporting break-ins.

Visit Walkerville was not available to comment in time for publication.

As for Sotiriadis, he says the issues are starting to affect his and other business owners’ quality of life.

“I get up out of sleep at three, four o'clock in the morning. I just make a drive here and just to look around to see if everything's okay,” he says. “And that's just not a great way to live.”