Business owner claims someone repeatedly attacked storefront, smashed windows

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Thuy Tran, president and owner of Utica Tax LLC, said in the past few months someone has been driving by and breaking the windows of his business on Tonawanda Street in Buffalo.

“Every month it seems like someone comes in with a rock. At 2 a.m., 3 a.m. they break it,” Tran said. “They come with a stone, sometimes with a hammer. They don’t even take anything. If they took something, I would be less angry, but here they break the windows and run away.”

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The most recent attack on the accounting firm occurred early Friday morning. Surveillance video shows a person approaching the business with a rock in their right hand. The person looked around before forcefully throwing the stone at the front window. The man then fled.

Utica Tax LLC

“So every time they break, you know it’s something I have to worry about funding for,” Tran said.

He spends a lot of time covering the windows with plywood and repairing each window, which costs $2,000.

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“It’s manual labor. It’s somebody’s manual labor. It takes you 5 seconds to throw the stone through the windows, but it’s actually somebody’s very hard labor,” he said. he declared.

Tran said he acquired this building in 2010 and has been working hard on a new office space ever since.

Utica Tax LLC

“It takes a long time to build this place. It was an apartment building and little by little I built it,” he explained.

But this work is only delayed when someone breaks their windows. From the previous incidents, you can still see broken glass on the sidewalk and along the frames of the replaced windows.

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“I don’t think this will be the last time. I think this will continue and I don’t know what to do and I don’t know why this particular property has this problem. I don’t have a problem with anyone and this continues to happen…I feel like my work is wasted,” Tran said. “I’m trying to build community. I’m doing my part, I just hope that whoever sees this, whoever has done this, stops.”

A city spokesperson told 7 News detectives are investigating. If anyone has information, you are asked to call or text the confidential tip line at 716-847-2255.