By: Melissa Toupin
mtoupin@abc6.com
As customers sip their Sunday morning coffee at Seven Stars Bakery in Providence they can't help but notice the boarded up window and shards of glass that line the sidewalk.
"When ever something like this happens they [patrons] seem really concerned," said bakery supervisor Jesse Dinardo.
Early Saturday someone smashed a brick through the window. Nothing was taken, but employees at the Broadway St. bakery are shaken.
"In those wee hours where there's no one on the streets it just seems like anything bad could happen," said Dinardo.
To make matters worse, just two blocks away, on the very same night, someone shattered a glass door at Pizzeria Gusto.
"People have invested in this neighborhood. They have worked hard to bring this neighborhood back," said Sen. Paul Jabour of Providence. "It's a bit discouraging when we see this."
Jabour says it's part of a larger problem. Other nearby businesses have also been targets for graffiti, vandalism, and dumping.
Many of the people who work in the neighborhood also live there. The vandalism has them on edge, and now they want to see police step up and do something about it.
"This may be another time to consider—until we can really irradiate the problem—to maybe bring back some spot foot patrols," said Jabour.
Police aren't sure if the cases are connected. As they investigate businesses are left hoping the recent rash of vandalism doesn't deter patrons.
"We try to keep this atmosphere of good bread and coffee and then all of the sudden it's just like this weird 'oh we have to deal in this neighborhood where sometimes it's violent,'" said Dinardo.
