Restaurateur targeted by vandals forced to shutter eatery at night
The owner of a West Kelowna restaurant hit six times by vandals has taken measures to better protect his premises.
Metal shutters now come down each night around the Thai Fusion restaurant, located in a strip mall off Louie Drive on the Westbank First Nation reserve.
“We had to install the shutters so we could renew our insurance,” restaurant owner Luke Sumpantarat said Sunday.
The secure, after-hours look of the restaurant is in contrast to the rest of the businesses in the strip mall. Since the shutters were installed last month, there have been no attempts to break into or vandalize the business, Sumpantarat said.
Windows have been smashed at the restaurant six times during the past two years. On one occasion, the restaurant also sustained heavy water damage when sprinklers were activated by what may have been an arson attempt.
Nothing has been stolen, and police have said the attacks are targeted. Sumpantarat says he has no idea who might be causing the damage. Security cameras have captured a masked man smashing the windows, but no arrests have been made.
After the latest attack last fall, Sumpantarat had thought about moving the business, but he changed his mind when he was able to renew his insurance.
“We don’t give up easily,” he said.