GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Its been a tough year for Irie Kitchen.
"You know, this business takes care of my whole family," says owner Vincent McIntosh.
McIntosh found out his restaurant was vandalized through social media.
"At first I didn't want to believe it because I was getting a couple emails about it," explaimns McIntosh. "I thought it was one of those scammy, 'ha-ha' emails where it's like sign up for this insurance thing, but then I started getting tagged on Facebook."
Security footage showed a blue car entering the parking lot around 1:30 Wednesday morning. Something was thrown from the car at the restaurant windows before it drove off.
"Man I was so angry and just hurt," says McIntosh. "Because they're double paned and with the size of the windows, its going to be about $2000 for sure."
The restaurant has been closed for months because of the pandemic. It was set to reopen this weekend, but plans are now on hold. McIntosh doesn't want to believe he was targeted, but feels the conditions are suspicious.
"Nowhere near riots or protests on this side of town, we're the only business being hit" he says. "You know, I don't want to accuse anybody but it definitely seems weird."
But through whats been a tough year, he remains positive.
"I run optimistically. Its hard when something bad happens to you but then you see people come out of their day to help you clean up, to be angry at the same time," explains McIntosh. "Because you're seeing the worst of what people can be but also the best of what people can be."
A GoFundMe page is set up to help pay for the repairs and recover some of the money lost to the pandemic. If you would like to donate, click here.
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