最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� For the second straight morning, Steve Ewing arrived at his South Grand Boulevard restaurant to broken glass.

Ewing was angry, but not at the man who vandalized his business twice.

He had watched surveillance video of the incident, and it didn鈥檛 seem like a personal attack, he said. Moreover, Ewing thought he recognized the man as someone who has harassed and vandalized other area businesses.

"We have some folks in the neighborhood that are like that, that are unhoused and sometimes they're dealing with mental illness," he said. "My only explanation for behavior that's unprovoked would be that."

On Monday morning, about 3 a.m., cameras at his restaurant, Steve's Hot Dogs, caught the man throwing a rock at a window. The glass pane shattered. About the same time Tuesday morning the same man shattered the restaurant's glass door and three surrounding windows.

That stretch听of South Grand has several restaurants and shops, including Dunaway Books and MoKaBe鈥檚 Coffeehouse.

MoKaBe鈥檚 owner, Mo Castillo, said they are aware of ongoing problems in the area with the same few people who are believed to be homeless and could also be living with mental illness. Kevin Twellman, owner of Dunaway, reported that one of his windows was smashed about a year ago, but he hasn鈥檛 seen any major problems since.

And a similar incident played out at The Gin Room, a few blocks south of Steve's, where windows were smashed early Wednesday and Thursday. Police arrested a 27-year-old man in the area Thursday based on a witness description.

A 最新杏吧原创 Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers are not yet able to confirm if the window-smasher is connected to the Steve's Hot Dog incidents, or has vandalized other businesses in the area, but are continuing to investigate.

The spokesperson said police will review their patrol plans in the area and make adjustments if needed.听

Ewing, a co-owner of Steve's, said his frustrations are with what he described as a systematic problem.

鈥淛ust be nice if they had a way to get this individual some help and keep them from smashing places,鈥� Ewing said.

Steve's co-owner Danni Eickenhorst is also听the CEO of听HuSTL Hospitality, a restaurant group.听She听said it's an issue without a clear solution that听she sees at the company's other restaurants. HuSTL operates another Steve's in Chesterfield and听The Fountain on Locust.

"It's scary for our employees," she said. "It's scary for us financially, physically, all of it. We don't want our city to be like this."听

Eickenhorst said replacing the windows at Steve's will cost HuSTL at least $1,500 to $2,000 out of pocket. Worse, though, would be the likely hike in insurance premiums.

Eickenhorst made insurance claims after last听year鈥檚听tornado听hit听two听of her restaurants on Delmar Boulevard: a second location of听Steve鈥檚 Hot Dogs and The Fountain on Delmar.听Both restaurants shut down in January.听听

鈥淲e鈥檝e already felt the impact of that on our insurance premium, so we鈥檝e been working really hard to make sure that we never make an insurance claim, and here we are again,鈥� Eickenhorst said.

Ewing said the community response has been positive following the broken windows.

鈥淚鈥檝e got nothing but love from friends and the other businesses,鈥� he said.

Mike Lorenz, a local artist, came by Monday morning to paint a mural of a hot dog tossing a baseball on the first boarded-up window with 鈥淭hese Hot Dogs Rock.鈥�

Customers stopped in Tuesday morning as Joseph Zeable, the facility manager, boarded up the entry.

Donald Williams, a regular and close friend of Ewing, was picking up his regular order: a double cheeseburger and fries. He had heard about the windows.

鈥淚t bugs me that somebody would destroy local owners, mom-and-pop shops and restaurants,鈥� Williams said.

Daniel Jones, owner of Benton Park Prints, also came in for his go-to order: Bacon Bacon Jamaican with mac and cheese. He expressed the same sympathy Ewing had for the window smasher.

鈥淚鈥檓 also upset for that guy that he didn't get the help that he needed,鈥� Jones said.