I will make you famous: Retailer turns to social media to track down shoplifters [Video]

A B.C. small business owner with stores in Vancouver and Toronto says she no longer reports crimes to the police and is relying solely on social media to hold criminals accountable.

Security cameras at CityLux Boutique in downtown Vancouver have captured repeated smashed windows, shoplifting and even a brazen daylight couch theft during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Global News visited the location last Thursday, our camera bag was almost stolen from the front steps outside.

Owner Sunan Spriggs said posting security videos of theft suspects on her business Instagram account is the only method that seems to deter criminals and allow her to get her product or money back.

“The police and the court systems have just failed small businesses,” Spriggs told Global News.

The tipping point came last year, Spriggs said, when the male and female suspects in a $2,000 jacket theft were caught on camera in her Toronto store.

Spriggs said …