Around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, a solitary female baker found herself in a precarious situation at the renowned Georgetown Cupcake shop, located just a few blocks from the Potomac River. An unknown man shattered the shop’s front window using a stolen beer keg, prompting the baker to quickly move away from the cascading glass.
After the incident, the man abruptly left the scene.
“She was absolutely terrified,” remarked Katherine Berman, who co-owns the shop with her sister, Sophie LaMontagne. “She’s still feeling really shaken by the incident. It’s the kind of experience that leaves a significant psychological impact.”
The Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the man involved in this act of vandalism. He is suspected of being responsible for a series of destructive acts on M Street in Georgetown, including the damage at Georgetown Cupcake.
During graduation weekend in Georgetown, the area was bustling with students and visitors. Berman speculated that the suspect “resembled a student” and might have been heavily intoxicated, but she dismissed the notion that it was merely a “college prank.”
Before reportedly grabbing the beer keg, the suspect attempted unsuccessfully to uproot a metal trash can from the curb, according to Berman. He then turned a corner and returned with a keg, which surveillance footage from nearby businesses showed he had taken from outside a nearby home.
Her employee ran into the back of the shop and hid until the attacker left, but she said she came face-to-face with him before video shows him heaving the keg into the shop.
“He has this like rage, almost like this arrogance to him that, you know, I can do this and I can get away with it,” Berman told Fox News Digital. “And that is not acceptable.”
The Metropolitan Police Department now says the same man is suspected in other attacks on M Street in the dark.
The Metropolitan Police Department is asking for the public’s help identifying this man, who is accused of a string of vandalism attacks on M Street in Georgetown, including the famous bakery, Georgetown Cupcake. (Metropolitan Police Department)
Investigators have obtained new surveillance images that they say show the night prowler earlier this year, damaging another business around 5 a.m. on April 24.
They released an image showing him cocking back a black object on the sidewalk, with a purple paper bracelet on his left wrist.
“He’s violent, and I think that, to be honest with you, in our society, we live in a civil society where there’s an expectation for us to respect each other, our property, and clearly he didn’t do any of those things,” Berman told Fox News Digital.
Georgetown Cupcake is a popular local bakery and also reached national acclaim in 2010 as the focus of a three-year Discovery series, “DC Cupcakes.”
Katherine Kallinis Berman and Sophie Kallinis LaMontagne discuss Georgetown Cupcake at AOL HQ on October 28, 2016 in New York City. (Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic)
The incident comes amid ongoing concerns about vandalism and late-night disorder in parts of Washington, D.C., including Georgetown’s heavily trafficked M Street corridor.
“I think that if anybody knows who this individual is, I just implore you to have the courage to come forward,” Berman said. “We really want to find this individual so that he can be held accountable for his actions.”
Georgetown Cupcake owners are seeking public assistance to identify a vandal who threw a beer keg through the bakery’s front window while employees were inside. (Georgetown Cupcake)
MPD is asking anyone who can help identify the suspect or with information on the vandalism to call them at 202-727-9099 or text the tip line at 50411.
There is a reward of $1,000 for information that leads to an indictment.
Georgetown Cupcake, known for its long lines, reopened on Monday, hours after the vandalism.
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