SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane restaurant owner is calling on the city to do more to prevent vandalism from happening to its local businesses.
The owner of KASA Taphouse near Riverfront Park called police Wednesday morning when she found the window of her restaurant broken with a large rock.
“It’s disheartening because it’s the third time we’ve had to call police in the last week,” said Juli Norris, chef and owner of KASA.
She said the vandalism is disappointing but not surprising.
“The community here is really something special and I don’t want to see that fall to the wayside,” Norris said.
The hole in the window has been patched up with cardboard for now but Norris said she wants more awareness brought to this issue.
“We have a lot of drive (and put) a lot into it to make it successful. When we don’t have the support of our city leaders to be able to protect us when it comes to crime or vandalism, it’s disheartening,” said Norris.
KASA is approaching its second year in business. Norris said she thinks property crime like vandalism has gotten worse in recent months.
However, according to SPD, property crime is on par with numbers from this time last year, showing a seven-and-a-half percent decrease.
Norris said she still worries what the images of broken glass and little do to vistors’ perception of Spokane.
“This is Riverfront Park. This is Spokane. This is a tourism area. We need to make sure that when people come to the city, we’re proud of what they see so they come back,” she said.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
