Local restaurant damaged in 'very aggressive' incident

A man was arrested on burglary and resisting arrest charges in the early hours of Wednesday morning after breaking into Playa Hermosa Fish & Oyster Co. on Pier Plaza and causing what the restaurant's owner estimates was approximately $100,000 in damage.

Hermosa Beach Police Department confirmed that officers received a report at 1:45 a.m. of a man who had thrown a chair through the restaurant's front window. When officers arrived, they found the suspect inside and took him into custody as he attempted to exit through the back of the building.

"He destroyed property at the location and was arrested for burglary and resisting arrest," an HBPD spokesperson said.

The suspect did not steal anything from the restaurant.

Owner Levi Lupercio said the man appeared to be the same individual who had dined and dashed from the restaurant earlier this month. Speaking with KTLA, he said he had followed the man to the pier after that incident and confronted him there, with police arriving during the confrontation. At the time, Lupercio declined to press charges, saying he did not think it would be worth pursuing.

Surveillance video from Wednesday's incident shows the man drinking from a bottle behind the bar before throwing it, then repeating the behavior with additional bottles. He also trashed the outdoor patio, throwing chairs and overturning planters.

Lupercio described the scene: "He went back behind the bar, found a bottle, had a drink of it, put the cap back on and threw it. I counted on video camera like 31 bottles that he threw. It’s a very aggressive and strange situation."

He said that the man also broke into his wine refrigerator and continued the destruction there, and said he believes the suspect may be dealing with a mental illness.

The man has not been publicly identified. Police said he is believed to be a serial dine-and-dasher with a broader pattern of disruptive behavior in the community, and detectives are working to connect him to additional incidents. He remained in custody as of this report, with officials seeking a magistrate review to hold him through his arraignment. It is not known at this stage whether the man arrested is local or not, or if he is known to police as a transient individual.

Co-owner Lisa Hemmat spoke with The Hermosa Review on Wednesday. She said that she was grateful for the prompt police response, but hoped that police and local business owners could work together to be proactively informed of serial offenders in order to be better prepared for the risks that they pose.