Brantford residents are expressing shock and betrayal after a local act of generosity was met with violence.
But they say the incident won’t stop them from spreading kindness. At Brantford’s Mercasa Little Italy Eatery, they’re still shaken up by what happened.
“This despicable act. We honestly don’t know what would lead someone to do something like that,” said Tom Mercante, the restaurant owner.
This restaurant is part of Brantford’s Pass the Puck Forward program, where one person can buy a dollar puck or more and leave it for someone else less fortunate to use it to pay if they need free food.
On Wednesday, two men got the free food and paid back the generosity with violence.
“I came back out here and it was like chaos, there was a flag on fire. I saw these guys running across the parking lot,” said Head Chef Lenny Keveryga.
One of the men set fire to an Italian flag hanging inside by the door and the staff had to stomp out the fire.
“Chaos started because the thing was up in flames,” said Mercante.
“The girls, the two servers that were at the front line here, were in tears … and now their concern is how do we prevent something like this from happening again? What do we do in instances like this? How do we know we’re safe?”
Detectives arrested two suspects, one being a 34-year-old Brantford man. He has been charged with arson and mischief.
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