MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Cupid may have been aiming for hearts this Valentine’s Day, but one man was allegedly targeting businesses around West Midtown.
Police said a man, 36-year-old Jonathan Jones, went on a rampage, hitting several spots.
At Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse, some front windows are boarded up after a video showed a man smashing them with a barrier around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. He then climbed into the restaurant, and is seen on video going to the bar, drinking from a bottle and throwing it.
“Right now, with the doors and this [by the bar] we could say about $50,000 in damage,” said Uncle Jack’s General Manager, Muhammed Yaseen. “Thank god there was nobody in the restaurant. There was nobody around here. God knows what could have happened. These days, guns, knives is very common.”
Next door at the deli, workers said the man also visited them.
“He pushes the counter, the cashier, this cashier, the snacks, causes trouble and then he left,” said Bakeel Kassem with B&W Deli & Pizzeria.
Where he went, according to police, is several blocks down to the Interfaith Retreats Hostel.
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“Someone rang the doorbell. I step out into the stairwell to receive the person,” said Adi Purusha with Interfaith Community Services.
Then, surveillance video captured Purusha’s interaction with the man, which turned physical.
“This person is intoxicated, crazy, came running up the stairs, started ripping the fire extinguisher off the wall. ‘Wait a minute. Stop that.’ There was a bit of a scuffle and he ran out with the fire extinguisher,” said Purusha.
Police said the man put the fire extinguisher to use at the 7-Eleven next door and sprayed it in the store.
“Did a pirouette. Covered 9,000 items with dust,” said Purusha.
Still, Purusha is offering grace.
“The people that do stuff like this, they’re falling. They’re precipitating out of the liquid of society. They need help. They’re crying out for help,” said Purusha.
Police said Jones was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, robbery and reckless endangerment.
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