Chicago police are searching for a man who smashed the front door of a Rogers Park restaurant with a hammer in an attack that was captured on surveillance footage.
The owners of R Public House, located in the 1500 block of West Jarvis, told NBC 5 the suspect also shouted homophobic slurs at customers during the incident.
“It’s just so disconcerting knowing someone’s running around the street with a hammer on them,” said owner Renee Labrana.
Labrana and her wife Sandra Carter had just left their business Monday night when they got an urgent call to come back around 5:40 p.m.
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“This is a very safe neighborhood and so when something like this happens—its obviously pretty scary,” said Carter.
The owners said a man was captured on surveillance video yelling homophobic slurs to two of their customers as they walked into the bar and restaurant.
“They got him to leave and then he came back with a hammer and just started pounding on the door until the tempered glass broke,” said Labrana.
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Video provided to NBC 5 shows the man smashing their front door with a hammer at least four times before walking away. The man is seen on camera holding the hammer in his right hand.
Police are still trying to identify him.
“As he was using his hammer on the door, our bartender described it as being very loud,” said Carter. “People couldn’t tell if it was a gun. They ran and left out the back door which is pretty traumatic.”
The married couple have called Rogers Park home for many years and run several businesses in the area. They said this type of behavior will not be tolerated and that there is no room for hate in their neighborhood.
“The outpouring from our neighbors has been amazing,” said Carter. “Our phones have been just crazy hot off the hook, people wanting to help us and sending us all the love so we feel that.”
“We’re not going to stop doing what we do because of it,” Labrana added.
Chicago police officers were seen canvassing the area early Tuesday afternoon. Anyone with information on the attack is encouraged to contact authorities.
