Downtown Vandalism - Fargo, ND - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

FARGO — For the second time in six weeks, the front windows of a longtime pizza shop in downtown Fargo were smashed in, and police have no suspects.

The two cases at Sammy’s Pizza, 301 Broadway N., are among a total of at least six cases of broken windows on the frontages of downtown businesses in the past eight months.

While police say that many incidents in that time span is not alarming, Sammy’s Pizza co-owner Peter Tilock believes that if police could make an arrest, the window vandalism in downtown would stop.

“Why haven’t they been arrested?” Tilock wondered Tuesday, Feb. 18. “How about getting out of your squad cars and doing some work?”

He said an arrest would send a message to vandals. “Until you arrest people and make them pay, it will not stop,” Tilock said.

Two of the six recent cases of shattered windows at downtown businesses occurred in May 2019: An unruly customer broke a window at Ishtar Mediterranean Cuisine, 68 Broadway N., and in an unrelated incident a man was charged with criminal mischief and reckless endangerment for breaking a window at the HoDo Restaurant and Lounge, 101 Broadway N.

About three months later, a brawl downtown left a $1,500 window broken at Juice It, 64 Broadway N. In November, a man was charged with crimes involving firing a gun at police and shooting out a window at the Radisson Hotel, 201 5th St. N.

Sammy’s Pizza was first hit Dec. 29 during the weekend of a blizzard. The second window shattering was reported early Tuesday.

Damages exceeded $500 in the first incident, according to Tilock. A neon “open” sign was also destroyed.

In the second case, an eyewitness told police that two people wearing dark clothes broke a west-side window with their hands.

Tilock has owned the establishment since the 1970s, and he's seen his share of violence, especially when downtown was in disrepair in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“Forty years later, you can break my windows, but you are never going to break my spirit,” he said. “This is the second one in a month and a half. It’s just ridiculous. We even followed footprints in the snow….”

Police have listed the first Sammy's Pizza incident as inactive due to a lack of evidence, Fargo police spokeswoman Jessica Schindeldecker said. No information could be released pertaining to Wednesday's incident, as it is still under investigation.

“At this point, we’re not able to say if alcohol or any kind of drug use is a factor. It could be youth who think they’re funny and don’t realize the seriousness of what they’re doing, especially to the businesses and the business owners. However, these types of crimes are difficult to solve,” Schindeldecker said.

“They're really pretty sporadic and infrequent. It’s unfortunate that this place got hit twice,” she said, adding that officers patrol the downtown beat on a daily basis.
By C.S. Hagen of The Forum

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 02/19/2020 Publication: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: local News Category: Crime

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