A restaurant owner in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood is dealing with repeated break-ins and wants a stop to the criminal activity that is endangering his business.
It’s a feeling that Kevin Lieu, owner of GAI Chicken and Rice, has unfortunately become accustomed to.
“You just know something’s wrong when you get a phone call at 3:30 in the morning. You know your heart is racing, something’s wrong in the restaurant,” Lieu told CBS News Bay Area.
Surveillance footage shows an unidentified man breaking into the Singaporean restaurant along 16th and Sanchez early Wednesday morning. There was broken glass everywhere through the shattered window.
“It’s a horrible feeling to have to go through that all the time,” Lieu said.
“Luckily nothing was stolen because we are so good at not keeping cash in the restaurant anymore, because that happens too often,” he added.
This is the fourth time this year that his family restaurant has been broken into.
According to the San Francisco Police Department’s crime dashboard, burglaries are down nearly 14 percent citywide this year compared to last year. However, they are up 15 percent year-over-year in the district that includes the Castro neighborhood.
Reports of such break-ins have made crime and public safety important issues in the upcoming mayoral elections.
“I’ve lived in San Francisco for 30 years. I’ve seen the ups and downs and we’re going through a really tough time right now,” Jeanne, a regular customer, told CBS News Bay Area. “It’s heartbreaking to see something like this. I mean, this is one of our favorite restaurants.”
Lieu and his family are now considering installing scissor gates to prevent something like this from happening again.
Currently, plastic covers the glassless window. Lieu’s doors remain open as he and his family pick up the pieces and move on.
“When things like this happen to us, it takes the passion away from how we can be innovative. Like, what’s next on the menu? It’s more like how do you file an insurance claim?” Lieu said.
“We’re still going to fight to make sure we can bring the SF we love back to the city,” he added.
San Francisco police have not identified the suspect as of Thursday morning. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 415-575-4444 or send a tip to TIP411.
