A cafe owner in Williams Lake was inside cleaning up around 9:20 p.m. when someone punched a hole in the cafe's window Sunday, Aug. 11.
Sherman Yu, one of the co-owners of Xin Tea on Third Avenue North, said he was toward the back of the kitchen area when he heard the smash.
He turned around and looked toward the front window, wondering if it had been broken with an object, such as a rock.
It was then he saw two teen agers walking away, one with her hand up in the air.
Yu and his wife Christina Liu live upstairs in the building and when she heard the noise of the window being smashed she quickly checked their surveillance camera to see what had happened.
She went outside to see the hole in the glass for herself. She was about to call 911, but noticed an RCMP officer in a police car nearby and told the officer what had happened.
Liu said police were able to catch up with the two young women and that an ambulance came, possibly to check the suspect's hand.
"We were told she is a minor so we are not charging her," Liu told the Tribune.
The small business owners are not sure if their insurance will cover the cost of the broken window. They had someone take a look at the window Monday to give them an estimate.
Liu said they don't know if they will only have to replace the one window, which would be about $1,500 or all three which would be about $5,000.
On Sunday evening they were open until 8 p.m.
Liu said she was glad the incident did not happen when there were customers inside because someone might have been hurt.
"We usually have people sitting close to the windows," she said.
Originally from China, the couple opened their business on Feb. 1, 2023.
This was the first time they have had any vandalism, Liu said.
