MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — A 36-year-old man is facing serious charges after a camera captured him breaking into a steakhouse in Manhattan. He then continued his destructive rampage in a hotel and then a 7-Eleven.
There was heartbreak on Valentine’s Day morning after the man destroyed a set of custom-made doors at Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse on 9th Avenue in Midtown. Now, it is boarded up.
“I thought he kicked it in, but this was more damage than anything we anticipated,” said General Manager Muhammed Yaseen.
Yaseen says there are tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. Security cameras caught the suspect, identified as Jonathan Jones, breaking into the restaurant around 2:30 a.m. He used one of the eatery’s barriers out front.
“He picked up one of those and weaponized that stuff, and he was using that since it was metal pieces,” Yaseen said.
Once inside, Yaseen says the man headed right to the bar, grabbed a bottle of gin, took a swig and tossed it, shattering a glass shelf.
“No one got hurt, thank god, that’s a good thing, no one was hurt,” Yaseen adds.
Jones then left, and police say he headed to 8th Avenue just off 28th Street to a hotel where he allegedly punched an employee in the face and snatched a fire extinguisher.
He was then on the move again, walking into a 7 Eleven next door, discharging the fire extinguisher.
The staff at Uncle Jack’s say it took the staff hours to clean up the mess on one of the busiest days of the year. They were unable to handle all the reservations because of all of this.
“It kind of distracted us from the real job we wanted to do – get the kitchen ready, get the staff ready,” said Yaseen.
Police arrested Jones, who faces several charges including burglary and robbery.
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