CORNWALL, Ontario – The Sip & Scoop dessert shop at 710 Fourteenth Street near Vincent Massey Drive and Brookdale Avenue was broken into over the weekend.
The break-in happened sometime between Saturday night and 11 a.m. Sunday morning.
The thieves took the cash from the register, as well as the smartphones and tablets that were on-site.
More than the theft, the owners of Sip & Scoop worry that their store was targeted by someone who wanted to damage their business rather than just steal their money.
Jenny Shorish, one of the co-owners of Sip & Scoop said that the damage the thieves left behind was extensive.
“The police did say that all of our product was splattered over the floor, and that the product is contaminated so everything has to be thrown out,” she told Seaway News. “Clorox bleach was over the floor and maybe on our product too and product was on the floor (bubble tea jellies, powder, syrups). The ice cream machine was turned off, so all the ice cream was melted. The soft serve machine was tampered with. All cash was stolen, the cash register was broken into, the cash safe was broken into as well. Decorations were all over the floor, vases were broken and glassware was broken too.”
Shorish said that she worried this was a hate crime because of the extensive damage inside the store.
She said that in the previous week, someone had vandalized their lobby by splattering their walls with milkshakes. She said she did not think much of it at the time, but that now the incident stands out and she worries that they might be connected.
Shorish also said that the business has received hateful messages in recent months.
The Cornwall Community Police Service is investigating the break-in and told Shorish that they recovered a vase they believed was use to break a front-door window in order to gain entry into the store.
Shorish said that she was very upset when she learned of the break-in when she arrived to open the store on Sunday morning.
“(The Sip & Scoop is) a family business and we are truly disheartened this has happened,” she said.
The Sip & Scoop received support from the community on their Facebook page following the break-in.
“Wow that’s too bad! Your business has done so much for this community and it’s sad that someone would do that to you,” wrote one Amber Pichie on Facebook. “I hope you’re back up and running fast.”
“I hope they catch whoever did it,” wrote Haley Taylor. “You guys are amazing and work so hard for what you have. Shame on the people who did this!”
