Eleven-year-old Jasmine Zacher wasn’t about to let someone run off with her hard-earned Calgary lemonade stand loot.
Zacher was selling the summertime thirst-quencher over the warm weekend in her southeast Calgary neighbourhood of Ramsay. On July 12, A woman approached her stand and swiped between $40 and $50 and dashed away.
Unwilling to part with her cash, Jasmine gave chase.
“I stalled for a second because I was kind of still processing what was happening, and then I chased after her,” Jasmine told LiveWire Calgary.
“She had a head start, and she was really fast, so I couldn’t get her.”
Jasmine’s mother, Bonnie Zacher, didn’t know she pursued the thief until the youngster gave her statement to the police. She was surprised her daughter pursued the thief and asked what she’d have done if she’d caught the robber. According to Bonnie, Jasmine didn’t know.
“But I’m kind of glad that she didn’t catch the lady because anyone who would steal from an 11-year-old, you never know, right?” Bonnie said.
“You just don’t know what they might be willing to do.”
‘Fierce little gal’ defends her Calgary lemonade stand
Calgary Police Service Cst. Brandon Hopkins was the responding officer and described Jasmine as “a fierce little gal” for her decision to chase after the bandit.
According to Hopkins, there wasn’t much to go on for this theft case and despite making several inquiries, CPS was unable to find the culprit. Still, Hopkins wasn’t about to let this sour Jasmine’s lemonade-selling experience.
Two days after the initial robbery, Hopkins and his fellow officers went to Jasmine’s lemonade stand to lend their support.
“I just ended up asking the team and my sergeant if they’d be willing to go down the next day to kind of pitch in and see if we can raise the money back for her,” said Hopkins.
Jasmine said she raised $96 at her Calgary lemonade stand with the help from Hopkins and the rest of the officers from CPS District 1.
She’s planning to donate half of her earnings to the Calgary Humane Society because she loves animals. The rest, she said, she would save.
