Three large windows were shattered on the front of a building two doors east of DK Effect, as well as a storefront window at Second Shelf near Third and Bell Streets.
David Kittridge, co-owner of Tender Mercies and Sueno bars in the 600 block of East Third, said the incidents have been going on for at least a week. On Monday, June 3, Kittridge's security camera captured a man smashing a bulb lamp near the entrance to Tender Mercies.
The man appeared to be holding a stick and as he continued walking he threw it into the bulb lamp, scattering glass on the sidewalk.
“I've seen this guy a few times and he's always been aggressive like this,” Kittridge said. “As far as I know, this has happened a few times before.”
DK Effects owner Tony Clark said the man threw a barrel through a window and broke an outdoor plexiglass ping pong table, but no items inside the store were stolen or damaged.
DK Effect posted about the damage on Facebook over the weekend, which generated more than 100 comments, including from local residents and business owners who cited nearly a dozen locations that had been recently affected, including churches, gas stations, laundromats, bars and restaurants. One commenter even posted a video they captured on camera that resembled a man smashing the Tender Mercy lamp.
“We've been in business there for seven years, we've had Gionino's (the pizza place) for five years, and we've never had an issue like this since April of 2020,” Clark said, “so it was kind of a surprise that all of a sudden it became such a big issue.”
Kittridge and Clark's business partners, along with other business owners, spoke to police investigators. It's unclear whether the man seen on video at Tender Mercy on Monday is taking full responsibility for the damage caused to nearby businesses. Dayton police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
This isn't the first time Tender Mercy has been vandalized, Kittridge said, explaining that there was a similar incident a year ago when an identical lamp was found smashed on the sidewalk.
“I couldn't prove it was him, but I was watching him at the time it happened and throughout the week. He went into aggressive mode and I had a feeling something was going to happen,” he said.
The east side of downtown Dayton, including the Webster Station area, has seen significant growth over the past decade, with restaurants, bars and office businesses proliferating and new apartment developments drawing more people to the area and creating a more vibrant atmosphere.
Mr Clark added that despite the “frustrating” situation, DK Effects has received an outpouring of support from the community since the incident, with traffic at DK Effects this Saturday three times higher than it was last Saturday.
“Overall, this hasn't been a big deal financially,” he said. “We'll fix the glass and everything. I made this post in case we had to close for a few hours to deal with the situation, but rather the opposite has happened. We've been overwhelmed with messages of support.”
Kittredge said he's lived downtown for the past six years and has seen the area change for better and worse, but cited issues along the way, including fights with the RTA bus system and homelessness.
“Especially in the last two years, we've made a lot of progress, but we've regressed in other areas,” he said. “It's still very real that the outside perception of downtown hasn't changed for the better.”
