Sacramento-area Asian restaurant owner speaks out after break-in, vandalism: "Why us?"
WOODLAND -- The owners of several Asian restaurants in the area say they feel violated after thieves broke into their shops over the weekend, resulting in hundreds of dollars worth of damages.
It happened at four different restaurants spanning from Elk Grove to Woodland. However, police have not confirmed if the break-ins are related or are a coincidence.
The door leading to the back patio at Kuji Asian Grill in Woodland is boarded-up after it was smashed in during the early morning hours of July 3. While the thief was not able to steal any money, they did steal owner Kai Jung's peace of mind.
"What's worse is the sleep we lose at night," Jung said.
Jung said the suspect used some kind of handheld smashing device to break the lower part of the door and crawl underneath the bar.
The break-in comes just two years after his restaurant was vandalized after someone threw a rock through the side window. While he does have cameras, he's debated putting bars on his windows, but he's hesitant.
"It just changes the atmosphere of your restaurant," Jung said.
Kuji Asian Grill was one of four other Asian restaurants broken into over this holiday weekend. The other three were Tea Culture, Fujiya, and T% Coffee and Tea.
"I don't want to believe it's a hate crime or targeted to me because we're an Asian business, but it's hard not to feel that way sometimes," Jung said.
Meanwhile, Jung said he's thankful for the community support and will bounce back.
"We're going to get back up and we're going to keep doing what we love to do and making great food for our community," Jung said.
Elk Grove police say they frequently work with other law enforcement agencies in cases like this. But it's too early to tell if they're connected.