It was either entirely random, or very specifically targeted.
Early Sunday morning, Cilantro and Chive fell victim to vandalism as an unidentified person threw a brick at a window of the restaurant in Lacombe.
Owner Rieley Kay was awoken at 5 a.m. Sunday by the alarm company. By the time they got down to the restaurant police were already on scene.
“It’s not the best thing to wake up to, but what do you do,” said Kay, adding there was also some damage done to their glass doors.
“There was a fair bit of damage to the windows, that’s for sure.”
Lacombe Police Sgt. Bryan Zens said no other businesses were hit, adding to the peculiarity of the incident.
“It was random,” said Zens, adding there was no reports of damage to other buildings.
The incident is under investigation and police are asking for tips that could lead to an arrest.
A 20-second video posted to Cilantro and Chive’s Facebook page shows a person pick up a brick and throw it through the window. He then walks around the front of a white pickup truck, which then drives off.
“We’ve had attempted break-ins in the past, but they’ve never been able to get in,” said Kay.
It didn’t take long for the restaurant to get fixes underway. After the post went live, people quickly offered to help, with Tyler Nowochin, owner of Nowco Home Hardware located just down the street from the restaurant, coming over to help install plywood coverings. Kay said it won’t be long before the window will be replaced.
“This one looked more like they were trying to smash windows,” said Kay. “It could have been a lot worse. It didn’t go through all the windows, only one pane.”
Kay said he’d like to sit down with person who threw the brick, because it was clear they were either upset at the business or just upset.
“In all honestly, I’d sit down with him with a cup of coffee or a pint of beer and have a conversation with him to see what’s going on,” said Kay. “There’s a lot of different things going on in people’s (lives).