Frustrated SF ice cream shop offers 1,000 cone reward for finding vandals

Xanath Ice Cream Shop Xanath Ice Cream Shop Photo: Hersh A. / Yelp Photo: Hersh A. / Yelp Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Frustrated SF ice cream shop offers 1,000 cone reward for finding vandals 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The owner of one Mission District ice cream shop is reeling after finding his store targeted by vandals again for the second time in a year.

Owner 72-year old Juan San Mames, who has owned the Xanath Ice Cream shop for 10 years, is now offering a cash (or cone) reward for information that leads to an arrest of the three suspects.

Mission Local reports that the store located at 951 Valencia St. was first vandalized on August 26, 2018 when three men sprayed a sort of acidic chemical on the shop windows. It didn't matter then that San Mames had recorded the crime with four cameras, and it hasn't made much a difference the second time either. The shop was vandalized again on September 23, this time by a single man.

The damage caused by the latter vandal was worse, he says, because the suspect didn't just tag the windows with a similar acid-based pen. He also jammed the door locks with glue and plugged the door frame with an expanding foam, as Mission Local added.

"Not only did they etched [sic] all our windows, they sealed our front door with some kind of glue and they froze the lock," the company wrote in a Facebook post. "If there have [sic] been a fire, nobody could have gotten out."

Last night, our store was vandalized again. Not only did they etched all our windows, they sealed our front door with... Posted by Xanath Ice Cream on Monday, September 23, 2019

When reached by phone at the store, an employee voiced concern about the vandalism not just at Xanath, but across the Mission. It's been happening all over the neighborhood, he told SFGATE.

San Mames said as much to KGO, noting that a group of men "went from 17th all the way to Cesar Chavez Street and they [tagged] about 17 windows. So we're not the only ones, but we are in fact the ones that suffered the most damage."

The Xanath owner, however, has had enough, and has posted photos and video of the suspects on Facebook with the reward offer.

"They didn't care we have cameras all over the place. This is how blatant they are," the Facebook post continued. "It is a shame that small businesses have to put up with this hateful abuse. We've obviously been targeted."

San Mames has filed police reports, but is now offering a reward of $2,000 for more information about the crimes. Those who choose to forego the cash can also choose to have an ice cream party "of 1,000 ice cream cones" instead.

SFGATE has reached out to San Mames for more information.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

