WARMINGTON: Store owner fends off robber with bananas

Article content

This robber split after he was hit with a banana.

“Bananas” is actually the perfect word to describe the incident in central Mississauga.

Throw in that the Banana Burglar targeted Kim’s Convenience and you might think it’s a perfect sitcom story line.

“We have been robbed before,” said Sung Ae Kim, 69, who owns the store with her husband. “In fact, this is the fourth time.”

And in each time the bad guys got a punch — and not always served with fruit — before being chased away.

“One time, back in 1979, I had three guys in a store we had in Barrie come in with a sawed-off shotgun and he even shot into the ceiling,” said her husband, Ik-Soo Kim, 69.

He wasn’t afraid back then, either.

“I grabbed the gun from the guy and the chased him to his car where I smashed his windshield,” said the store owner who came to Canada from Seoul, South Korea, in 1974. “They caught him about half an hour later.”

So needless to say when this guy — now dubbed the “Banana Burglar” — decided to rob the Kim’s A and J Convenience on John St., located in the Hurontario-Dundas Sts. area, he picked the wrong store.

This bunch is ripe.

“I saw him come in wearing a mask and he quickly said he wanted all the cash in the register,” recalled Sung Ae. “My husband right away said, ‘No,’ and then started pushing him and I grabbed the first thing that was there to hit him with.”

She hit him with a bunch of bananas.  It worked and the guy ran off before police arrived.

As you can see in photographer Craig Robertson’s video, what ensued would make a great subject matter for an episode of the CBC’s Kim’s Convenience. Maybe they could give the couple a guest spot on the show.

“I don’t think it’s right,” said Ik-Soo. “I have to protect my wife, our business and our earnings.”

Regular customer James Johnson was one of many who came in to shake hands with the store owners — and to get them to sign a banana.

“I doubt he will tell his fellow criminals the real story about being fended off by a bunch of bananas,” quipped Johnson.

Peel Regional Police don’t recommend taking such action against a perpetrator but would love to catch this guy who learned a fruitful lesson the hard way: If there are bananas on the counter of the store you are trying to rob, you may not get away with any bread.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video