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Whisk Restaurant Owner Chases After Vandal, Gets Him Arrested

By Alisa Hauser | May 16, 2015 11:12am | Updated on May 18, 2015 8:08am
 Angel Rodriguez, 21, damaged plants and defaced paintings at Whisk late Friday.
Angel Rodriguez, 21, damaged plants and defaced paintings at Whisk late Friday.
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Rick Rodriguez/Whisk

UKRAINIAN VILLAGE — A  21-year-old West Town man was arrested after allegedly vandalizing flower baskets and defacing a toilet and paintings in the bathroom of a Ukrainian Village restaurant late Friday, police said.

"We work too hard to get what we have, for some little punk to get mad on the phone and destroy stuff, it's uncalled for," said Rick Rodriguez, co-owner of Whisk at 2018 W. Chicago Ave.

The incident occurred around 10:15 p.m. Friday when Angel Rodriguez (no relation to Rick Rodriguez), and three women, who had come in to eat, were one of the very last tables to leave the restaurant, Rick Rodriguez said.

"They paid and left, and he was the last to go into the washroom. Then he came to talk on his phone in front of the restaurant and I heard a thump. I saw him picking up my plants, a flower basket and a small tree, and slamming them to the ground," Rick Rodriguez said.

"I was like, really, bro? I've got you on camera. He said, 'I don't give a f--- and don't care about your f---ing plants,'" he recounted.

Around that same time, a friend of Rick Rodriguez told him that someone had vandalized the bathroom, though they could not say for certain that Angel Rodriguez was responsible.

There was a tag of "Vane" on the toilet seat, in black Sharpie marker, as well as tags directly on a painting by Robert Hernandez and on a wooden frame for a piece by Emilie Bouvet-Boisclair, "Volcano: Mt. St. Helens 2011."

A toilet with a graffiti tag on it. [Whisk/Rick Rodriguez]

"He told me to 'watch your back,'" said Rick Rodriguez.

After being threatened, the restaurant owner said he called the cops, then chased after the vandal.  He also posted news of the incident to the Ukrainian Village Neighborhood Watch Facebook page.

"He went through alley behind us, knocking over all the garbage cans and then ran across Chicago Avenue. We chased him down Damen, and when the cops came, he was chilling in his front yard, " Rodriguez said.

Office Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman, confirmed the events early Saturday.

Angel Rodriguez, 21, of the 1900 block of West Superior Street is being charged with three misdemeanors: simple assault (making a verbal threat), criminal defacement (the graffiti tags in bathroom) and criminal damage to property (the potted plant destruction).

Angel Rodriguez was released on his own recognizance Friday and is scheduled to appear in court at 2:30 p.m. June 26, Estrada said.

Rick Rodriguez said Bouvet-Boisclair's painting was not listed for sale, and Hernandez's destroyed work had a price tag of $600.

Friday was not the first time Whisk —  which replaced the former Middle Eastern restaurant Chickpea and has gained popularity for its bacon-wrapped Ron Swanson burger — has been targeted by graffiti taggers.

In December, the eatery posted surveillance images of a tagger defacing a windbreaker vestibule in hopes of catching the offender.

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