East Austin bar says it was vandalized, then customer was hit by homeless man with a rock

AUSTIN, Texas - The Revelry Kitchen & Bar says first they were vandalized; then the next day, a homeless man hit a customer with a rock.

The bar has been open on the east side for years now and they say they have never dealt with something like this. Now they're hoping police can take action.

Surveillance video shows a man chucking a rock at a customer at the bar. "Just yesterday right after opening at 5 pm, another gentleman was standing here getting to-go food at the entrance. a homeless guy came with a rock and he just cocked it back and you can see the guy get hit in the head, he has a laceration and he just fell to the floor," director of operations Moby Mir said.

Just the day before, the bar had their glass door smashed in.

"It started the other morning, Chef Mike, he gave us a call saying that the glass at the front door was shattered," Mir said. "We can see some guy take a boulder and smash it through the window. then he went behind the bar and took a bunch of liquor."

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Based on their observation of the surveillance footage, management believes the man may have something to do with the assault. The bar filed two police reports with the Austin Police Department. He was questioned by APD Friday morning, however, a FOX 7 Austin crew saw him walking on the street again a couple of hours later.

"For this to happen on the next consecutive day within 36 hours, it's unsettling," Mir said.

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The bar and restaurant, like many across Austin, took a hit because of the pandemic. The once seven-day-a-week establishment cut services to just Thursday through Sunday. Mir says the vandalism and assault only exacerbate the circumstances.

"Since COVID with all the closures we are one of the few places that are open so there is just more unusual activity going on in the area," Mir said.

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They are hoping APD can provide them some answers in order to keep their employees and customers safe. Mir says they have since hired a security team to work here, beginning this weekend. They will be looking at IDs and controlling who comes into the restaurant.

FOX 7 Austin reached out to APD to ask why the person pointed out to FOX 7 crews was released, but APD has not responded.