Riverside bar hosts fundraiser after copper theft causes flooding and temporary shutdown

A downtown Riverside bar reopened on Tuesday after being closed for two weeks due to the damage caused by flooding when a vandal stole copper pipe from their plumbing system. 

"As soon as we pulled into parking in the driveway, water was just running down the driveway," said Debbie Hodson, the one who arrived to work in April and discovered the aftermath of the crime at Arts Bar and Grill on University Avenue.

Andrea "Dre" Palagi, who owns the bar, says that a thief stole about eight feet of two-inch copper plumbing line, which was connected to the property's main water line. 

"The Water had been running, I'm guessing, anywhere from eight to 15 hours. Full geyser of water on the side of the building, which flooded the inside of the restaurant," Palagi said. 

He estimates that about $150,000 in damages were caused by the flooding. 

Now, after two weeks of repairs and renovation, the community favorite reopened on Tuesday, which just so happened to double as Cinco de Mayo. 

"Everyone has come here to support him; that tells you the person that he is," said one patron.

Another shared the heartwarming donation that Palagi made to her own family. 

"My daughter is suffering from cancer, and the man who first gave her the money was Andrea Palagi," said another bar-goer. "He just handed me money for her trips to City of Hope."

In turn, and to help Palagi and his employees, the community started an online fundraiser to help the more than two dozen people who were left without work while the fixes were being made. 

"Like we like to say: It's a five-star dive bar," Hodson said. "Everybody loves everybody."