A dozen shops in downtown Syosset broken into overnight
SYOSSET, N.Y. -- A dozen shopkeepers on Long Island woke up Tuesday to shattered glass and alarms going off after their downtown Syosset shops were broken into overnight.
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, a sense of safety in the quiet north shore hamlet was shattered too.
Merchants called it "hell night." They're cleaning up after 12 businesses were hit - glass doors where shattered, eight were burglarized. The rampage started after midnight.
"They threw a rock through the front door. They broke it, then they kicked in the glass," said Vadim Nayman, who owns Bagel Master.
Bagel Master was hit twice early Tuesday by what appeared to be different groups of young people.
"Whoever did it was just doing it just to do damage," Nayman said. "They tried to steal stuff but weren't able to even get in the register. So they destroyed registers."
The mayhem continued across the street as they hit one shop after the next. A liquor store where the door was shattered and bottles were stolen, then used to break into other businesses.
A bakery owner later watched on surveillance video what appeared to be seven teens convening in the parking lot, then shattering doors and scavenging what they could from his cash register.
"They looked very young. So it's not good, it's not good. And my question more is 14, 15 years old ... I'm a little bit sad because, naturally, I have kids. I don't like that kids act like that," said Fabrizio Facchini, who owns Cardinally Bakery.
When they didn't succeed, they came back twice to several businesses, including a Chinese take out restaurant.
"Someone grabs a brick or a rock and starts throwing it at the door about six times, and then kicking the door to try and get in. And when they couldn't get in they seem visibly upset," said Randy Klein, owner of Danny's Chinese.
Nassau Police were gathering some crystal-clear surveillance videos while merchants counted the losses.
"It makes me feel terrible. It's where're we going, what is going on and when is it gonna stop?" Nayman said.
"We just opened five days ago, so it's kind of like welcome to the community, if you will," Klein said.
"It's terrible. I think that for kids like that just to run rampant and do all this destruction just for the heck of it, it was a joy ride for them," said Joan Vettel, a pharmacy manager.
It cost merchants thousands of dollars in damage and damaged a sense of security.
Police said so far they have not made any arrests.
