Video shows man vandalizing Surrey restaurant, apparently because staff wouldn't give him food

Vancouver -

Security video captured outside the Afghan Kitchen restaurant in Surrey, B.C., early Sunday morning shows a man hurl patio heaters violently to the ground.

Dressed mainly in black with white headphones around his neck, he is seen walking away before turning back to do more damage.

The owner of the South Surrey eatery said the man approached staff the night before and asked for something to eat. The restaurant was already closed, so they couldn’t give him a hot meal, but "staff members felt bad, so they actually gave him some doughnuts,” said Hassib Sarwari.

A short time later, the man was spotted moving patio furniture, and Sawari figured he wanted to spent the night there.

“I was like, what is the worst he could do? It’s fine. It’s a warm night, just let him be," he said.

Then around 6 o’clock the following morning, video shows the man smashing the heaters, tipping them over, and repeatedly dropping them. He leaves, only to return about half an hour later to throw even more heaters.

“We had staff working in the kitchen, what if they had come out? What if I was here at that moment because he was not very happy?” said Sawari.

Along with $5,000 worth of the damage to restaurant equipment, Sawari found a window of his car had also been smashed.

Surrey RCMP confirmed to CTV News that they have identified a suspect. In fact, a man matching his description returned to the restaurant Sunday night, and was taken away by police.

This is not the first time that the restaurant has been subject to acts of vandalism. In the spring and summer of 2020, thieves targeted the patio and stole plants multiple times.