HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- This past Saturday, Tony Sappal and his family celebrated 27 years since first opening the doors to their Indian restaurant, India K’Raja.
"We've been doing it for such a long time and we have been loved and respected by this community for all this time," Sappal said.
However, on that very night, Sappal discovered that the outside of his West End restaurant had been vandalized with racial slurs. The derogatory words were painted on the building, fence and dumpster and speaker wires were ripped from the building.
"I felt really sad when I saw it and shocked and it happened on the day we were celebrating our 27th anniversary," Sappal said.
Sappal said he can't imagine anyone having a reason to target him and said his long-term employees are just as shocked.
"We love what we do here and it shows through our food and our service to the community. I wasn't expecting this at all but it's a shock. I can't see a reason why our restaurant would be singled out," Sappal said.
This is the second incident for Sappal as he says his home was ransacked and robbed in August.
Henrico Police haven't named any suspects and Sappal said he's unaware of any connection, saying it could be coincidental.
However, he said it doesn't dull the disappointment that he feels to be on the receiving end of a hate crime.
"We need to have a narrative of love and not hated toward our fellow beings," Sappal said.
Anyone with information was asked to call Detective Stone at 804-501-7176 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
