Mezuzos Torn Off of Doors as LA Kosher Restaurants Vandalized, Burglarized

By Matis Glenn

Police are searching for three suspects who burglarized and vandalized five kosher establishments in the Pico Robertson area of Los Angeles over Shabbos.

Mezuzos were torn out of the walls, furniture was destroyed, cash registers were taken, and glass was broken as the bandits made their way through the restaurants, all located in close proximity to one another in the predominantly Jewish area.

Police received a report at 5:27 a.m. on Shabbos of three men riding in a Mercedes C-Class sedan, who descended on the establishments, all located near the 9300 – 9400 block of West Pico Boulevard. The restaurants targeted include Nagila Pizza, Schnitzly, Shanghai Diamond Garden, SushiKo, Shalom Grill, and the newly opened Fisherman’s Bowl.

“It’s really disconcerting, because this has been going on for a long time,” Benjy Spiro, West Coast Director of Chesed Shel Emes and local resident told Hamodia. “In the last week or so we’ve had numerous mobs attack local shopping malls, and they steal tons of luxury items…we don’t see a strong police presence on Shabbos.

“We’re scared to walk down the street because there are homeless people who are mentally unwell…our shul, our restaurants have been attacked before.

“It’s not normal, it’s not sustainable.”

Despite the tearing of the mezuzos and the fact that all of the restaurants targeted were visibly Jewish, The LAPD does not believe the crimes to be related to antisemitism. “There was no graffiti or other markings of an anti-Semitic nature, or anything else apparent, that the businesses were targeted because of the religion of the restaurant owners,” Captain Lonnie Tiano, Commanding Officer of the LAPD’s West Los Angeles Division said in a statement.

Tiano pointed to one Jewish-owned store that was spared as evidence that the thieves were not motivated by antisemitism.

“It should also be noted that Factor’s Famous Deli was just across Rexford Place and there was no damage to the front windows. There were no other adjacent restaurants. At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to support a belief that the businesses were targeted because of the religious faith of the owners,” the statement continued.

Spiro says the police are deeply mistaken.

“Does the LAPD not realize that perhaps they didn’t attack the deli because after six attacks, they might have been afraid to continue, lest they be caught?” Spiro asked. “Do vandals have to attack every one of the Jewish-owned businesses in the area for them to believe it’s antisemitism?”