North Williams Businesses Targeted by Repeated Break-ins, Vandalism
Thieves and vandals struck at half a dozen businesses on North Williams Avenue in just the past couple days. It’s a trend owners say has been going on for months. An alarm sounds, in security footage. They’ve taken hit after hit, exhausted owners say, and they’ve just reached their limit.
Cody Grybko’s, at Grains of Wrath, where someone destroyed the glass on the front door. “It’s not cheap replacing commercial doors all the time,” he says. The same thing, happened a month ago. And the same type of attack: at Speilwerk Toys, EAT Oyster bar, Vein of Gold and several others.
“It’s the wild wild west out here, and we have to fend for ourselves,” says Lisa Stanger, the owner of Blackthorn Mercantile. She tells news partner KGW, her door was also smashed this weekend. This is the fourth break-in at her business in nine months.
Many of the owners say they want help from the city, but not just for themselves, also to help those committing the crimes, suffering from addiction, mental health issues, homelessness, and gentrification, feeding a vicious cycle of vandalism and burglaries.
