Caught on video: Vandals demolish Fish Village restaurant in Queens during Saturday night dinner
NEW YORK - It was utter chaos inside a Queens restaurant Saturday night.
Video shows a mob of masked young adults storm inside at around 8:20 p.m., chucking tables and chairs while customers are eating.
Video of the aftermath shows bewildered staff standing over piles of shattered utensils.
"From the time they entered to the time they left, it only took a minute. They didn't say a word. We have no idea what was happening," said Tony Hu, manager of the Fish Village restaurant.
Hu is still at a loss as to what motivated the attack. He says the group consisted of about twenty people. They weren't customers and offered no explanation as they started trashing the dining room.
"I was behind the register and was in shock. Then I ran to call 911, but by the time I got through, they were already gone," Hu said.
No one was physically injured, but the property damage cost $20,000. The restaurant also had to comp the 30 or so customers who had their dinner interrupted.
Hu is most worried about the longterm impact.
"This is a big financial loss. Especially our reputation to future customers. Nobody wants to go to a place where things like this happen," Hu said.
So far police have made no arrests, but they are investigating the incident as an act of criminal mischief.
"I was so worried they were going to harm my employees or customers. But quickly became clear they just wanted to create as much damage as possible," Hu said.
Hu said it's hard enough making a living in the restaurant industry without worrying about safety.
He wants to get to the bottom of why.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.