DENVER -- A place known for its good food and a gathering spot in the Highland neighborhood was recently broken into, and now employees and the owner have been left to pick up the pieces.
"It is a lot of things to a lot of people; I think most importantly, it is a place where everybody is welcome," said owner of Bar Dough, Juan Padro.
Padro says early Saturday morning he got a call from his cleaning crew that his restaurant had been smashed inside.
"Walking in, it was pretty shocking, I don’t know if I have ever seen anything like that before," said Padro.
Padro says a former employee, who only worked with them for one day, got in through the back door with an access code. Security camera footage shows part of the destruction with plates and bottles of liquor being thrown around, windows smashed with pans, cashier systems broken into as well as TV’s.
"I want to emphasize that we are going to be open Thursday and we’ve got somebody that is dealing with mental health issues and likely no healthcare and he was homeless and is homeless," said Padro.
Even after the damage, restaurant staff decided to give back and donated about 100 pounds of meat as well as produce.
"We had a bunch of food, you know, we get food here everyday that was going to spoil so we found places for that food and homeless shelters," said Padro.
Looking at around $300,000 in damage, the restaurant is getting ready to move on, welcome guests back, and get their staff working again.
"This is just an act of desperation and anger and I think that can be prevented if we’re just better as people," said Padro.
The Denver Police Department says no suspect has been arrested in this case as of yet.