Vashon businesses vandalized overnight

At least three Island businesses were found to be vandalized Wednesday morning. Zoomies Burgers & Ice Cream, the post office in town and Joy’s Village Cleaners all had windows broken late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.

Zoomies was perhaps the most hard hit, with four of its large, north-facing windows shattered.

Customers who went to the Zoomies drive-through at lunchtime on Wednesday found a hand-written sign informing them that the burger and teriyaki restaurant was closed because of the vandalism.

Owner Kelly Hwang said the restaurant will likely be closed until the weekend, when new windows can be delivered. Though she was glad no one was hurt in the incident, she said the closure would be difficult on business. Zoomies was already closed three days last week due to the power outage.

“Nothing like this has every happened. … It’s very scary,” she said.

At the post office, workers arrived Wednesday morning to find that a 5-foot pipe had been used to shatter one of the building’s smaller windows and landed inside the building.

Delivery supervisor Gail Green said that the vandalism surprised them but didn’t affect their operations.

Joy’s Village Cleaners was the target of several acts of vandalism. In addition to breaking a window, a vandal or vandals broke a drainpipe coming off the roof, removed a grate from a storm water drain and tipped over two dumpsters. In addition, the Christmas lights that had adorned the business were torn down and cut into pieces.

Merle Belden, who works at the cleaners, said the vandalism was just one incident in a recent string of crimes at the business. A few days ago someone removed parts of the cleaners’ boiler, and last week all of the keys to the washing machines were stolen.

Belden was frustrated to hear other Island businesses were experiencing vandalism as well.

“What is wrong with these people around here, have they all gone crazy? … People are trying to make a living,” she said.

Dep. Mark Brown with the King County Sheriff’s Department said the incidents were investigated Wednesday morning, but no evidence was gleaned from any of the sites.

“There is no suspect information at this time,” he said.

Brown said that if anyone has information about the vandalisms, they should call 911 or stop by the sub-station at Courthouse Square.