Vandals Deface San Francisco Ice Cream Shop With Chemical Graffiti
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- An ice cream shop owner is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of vandals who have twice defiled his store with deep etchings in the front windows as well as graffiti that appears to have been drawn with acid.
"It looks very disgusting and ugly," said Juan San Mames, owner of Xanath Ice Cream in the 900 block of Valencia.
Store surveillance video captures a man in a grey hoodie with his face covered vandalizing the store in September of 2019. He etches graffiti onto the window, ruining the glass. The owner believes the vandal used some sort of chemical, possibly acid. When he's finished, the vandal decides to shoot video with his cell phone, admiring his work.
Some of the graffiti used graphic language.
"This guy was very offensive, so that's why we put tape over it," said San Mames. "There's a lot of moms, they come with their children."
In August 2018, a different surveillance video clip shows a group of men walking by, turning around and then proceeding to draw graffiti on the front window. The faces of the men were clearly visible on camera.
San Mames says it could cost him up to $5,000 to replace the window. He does not know the motive of the graffiti taggers and does not believe they are sending any kind of message.
"I don't know, they want to be artists or something," he said. "Perhaps they want to see their work in the Louvre or the Smithsonian, I don't know."
The ice cream shop is not alone. There is similar graffiti on other shops along Valencia. In the case of Xanath Ice Cream, San Mames has reported it to the police and is displaying the photos of the men who defiled his shop, along with a reward that keeps growing.
"Hopefully, they get caught and whoever turns them in will get the $2,000 or they can bring their friends and we'll have a party with a thousand scoops of ice cream. In the meantime, what can you do?
