Chen trial hears thief stole earlier in day

A thief allegedly assaulted by Toronto grocer David Chen had stolen from another store earlier in the day and regularly for the past year,exacting a psychological toll on one shopkeeper, a court heard Tuesday.

Around noon on May 23, 2009, Hamid Kheiry, owner of the King Street West store King Flower and Plants, said hespottedAnthony Bennettoutside his store putting plants into a box.

Kheiry ran outside but Bennett had jumped on his bicycle, leaving three or four plants behind. "I told him, 'Next time you come back again, I will kill you,'" Kheirysaid he yelled out of frustration.Bennett responded with his middle finger, Kheiry testified.

The 53-year-old shopkeeper said the constant thefts one every several weeks not only wreaked financial havoc but also had a psychological impact on him.

"Every day, you open the store, you're expecting somebody is coming to steal from you. You have to be watchful all the time," Kheiry said outside the Old City Hall court.

Though he had reported the thefts to police several times showing them video surveillance Kheiry said he'd become frustrated with a lack of progress. "Even if I call, nothing happens," he said.

New charges

Five new charges of theft under $5,000 were laid against Anthony Bennett last Fridayfor allegedly stealing plants from Jungle Fruits in May and July. Bennett was on probation at the time for previous theft convictions. He is due to appear in court Wednesday morning on the new charges.

"If in fact [Bennett] is found guilty or pleads guilty, it makes the whole thing look even stupider, frankly. Why are you spending all this time and money putting people like David Chen through the ringer on this case?" defence lawyer Peter Lindsay said outside court.

Chen,co-owner of the Lucky MooseFood Mart on Dundas Street West, and two store employees are charged with assault and forcible confinement for allegedly chasing Bennett down, tying him up and placing him in the back of a van afterBennett allegedlystole plants for the second time on May 23.

Initial charges of kidnapping and carrying a dangerous weapon were dropped.

The Crown rejects Chen's defence that he was conducting a citizen's arrest, which the Criminal Code states can only be made when an alleged wrongdoer is caught in the act. Defence lawyers argue Chen was within his rights to defend his personal property.

Witness Shun Xing Ye testified Tuesday that hesaw David Chen and his nephew, co-defendantJie Chen, grab Bennetton Grange Avenue.Ye spotted the triowhen he was driving to a nearby store where he worked.

Ye worked for the third co-defendant, Qing Li, who worked at Lucky Moose but also owned the Good Luck Fruit and Vegetable wholesaler and whose wife co-owned Lucky Moose with David Chen.

"I saw that person using his arms and legs kicking David Chen. Then David Chen asked me to call the police. When I took out my cellphone, the person kept kicking with a lot of force," Ye told the court through a Cantonese interpreter.

Ye said David Chen asked for his belt but it was too short, so he ran 10 to 15 seconds back to the Good Luck store. There, he ended up taking a phone call in the store and told Qing Li to take rope to Chen.

Li testified in court that he grabbed orange nylon rope used to tie up boxes and ran to help Chen.

The 41-year-old father of two said he found David and Jie Chen holding downBennett, the alleged thief. "After we tied him up, David Chen said to me, 'If we stay here to wait for the police, it might take a long time so we should drive him back to Good Luck." Li said none of the men kicked or punched Bennett.

As Li began driving toward the store, he spotted police and stopped. Officers arrested the three men. Li said as he sat handcuffed in a police cruiser, he saw Bennett point toward him, shaping his fingers into a gun and mouthing, "Bang, bang."

"Up 'til today, I'm very nervous of this man. I don't know whether he'd carry [it] out," Li said.

Translation issues

Asked why Ye didn't call police as Chen demanded, Ye told prosecutors that he didn't speak enough English. "I don't know how to say thief in English," he told the court, speaking through a Cantonese interpreter.

Pressed by prosecution, Li, too, said he didn't know enough English to call police. "I have never called the police. I do not know how to call the police," Li said.

Language barriers have been a recurring theme in the case. The trial's beginning was stalled by a lack of Mandarin interpreters accredited under new provincial guidelines. Only two partly accredited interpreters are available in Ontario.

Questions about translation rose againTuesday when a member of the gallery said the Cantonese interpreter had not translated the defence lawyer's full question and mixed up directions when translating testimony.

The trial is expected to wrap up Oct. 25, when the defence and Crown present their final arguments.