A Surrey car wash owner says his business was the latest to be targeted after extortion threats.
Lovepreet Singh, who owns the 1313 Car Wash on 84 Avenue near 128 Street, says he received extortion threats prior to bullets being fired into his business, an incident noticed by Surrey Police Service (Aug. 18).
Singh, who has owned the car wash for two-and-a-half years, said he answered a call from an unknown number two days prior to the shooting, which happened after hours when the business was closed.
As soon as he answered, Singh said he was threatened by the callers, whom he says demanded $50,000 from him.
"I said, 'I'm a small business man ... I'm not a millionaire here. We work hard, and I have employees and expenses ... I need to pay them,'" Singh said Sunday.
"They were just abusing and yelling at me."
But when he and his family checked their home's CCTV footage the next day, they could see two men had visited their home after Singh received the call.
"We can see two guys ... trying to knock on my door, and they have weapons in their jackets."
Then, SPS officers showed up to tell him about the shots fired at his business overnight Aug. 18, and SIngh said after reviewing the car wash's CCTV footage, the shots fired were in addition to theft.
"They get three shots on my windows and after that, we saw everything they stole from my shop," which was thousands of dollars of expensive equipment, he said, including pressure washers, an air compressor and expensive polishers.
"It's just a very hard and scary time for me."
His employee's families are also scared, he noted, with many not wanting their kids to work any late-night hours at the car wash.
Now, every time a new customer walks in, he is mindful and cautious, Singh said.
"If some random customer comes to my shop, and I've never see him before ... I'm just very worried about it like that."
While Surrey Police Service says it's still early in the investigation and has not confirmed whether the incident is related to the , Singh said he knows he's not the only one keeping his head on a swivel.
He is hopeful the SPS investigation will result with police identifying and charging those responsible.
SPS as well as municipal, provincial and federal leaders have all said the extortion threats and shootings — in Surrey, Abbotsford and elsewhere across Canada including Alberta and Ontario — is a priority for law enforcement at all levels, with in the wake of a surge of recent incidents.