DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Imagine buying a building with plans to open a new business, only to have it vandalized and destroyed days before you move in. That’s what happened in Daytona Beach, and now police have launched an investigation into the property on South Beach Street.
From concrete poured down toilets and pipes to shelving ripped right out of the walls, the vandals who hit a building on South Beach Street left behind tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
Leon Geller bought the property and was set to take over on February 1st. The restaurant was open and serving customers the week before, and sometime in between, someone came in and destroyed it.
“It’s like the apocalypse. It’s like you know, it’s terrible,” said Leon Geller.
Geller is no stranger to the restaurant business. He owns Via Canaletto in New Smyrna Beach, and after seeing millions of dollars being invested on Beach Street in Daytona, he wanted to get involved. But now making that happen is going to take a lot more time and money.
“Easily, $100,000 to $200,000 just preliminarily going through, and that’s just because I’ve done this for 22 years,” said Geller.
Geller showed us photos of the property two weeks before the old tenants were set to move out. Our walk-through looked and smelled much different.
“I just got hit in the face with disgusting smells. They obviously defecated, urinated,” said Geller.
Daytona Beach police said they are investigating the vandalism but haven’t shared any details about potential suspects. Geller said he’s confident it won’t be long because security cameras surround the property.
“It’s very unprofessional, irresponsible, and we know who it is. It’s going to come to light.”
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