On a Long, Hot Weekend, Crime and Tragedy Strike Vashon

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 1, 2021

Two Vashon businesses, Herban Bloom and Roadside Attraction Design Studio, were vandalized last weekend.

The acts of vandalism, discovered in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 26, required owners to board up windows of their businesses.

At Herban Bloom, in downtown Vashon on the corner of Vashon Hwy. and Bank Rd., a shop window facing Bank Rd. was smashed — damaging a portrait of Andrew Brown, Jr., created by the Vashon Remembrance Project, that had adorned the window. A plastic bucket of concrete was left on the street close to the window.

At Roadside Attraction Design Studio, located across the street from Herban Bloom on Bank Road, a shopping cart was found stuffed into a broken shop window, said business owner Judith Neary, who added that someone had also entered her business to plug in her neon “Open” sign.

Vashon Remembrance Project paintings did not adorn the windows of the design studio, said West McLean, who paints portraits of Black Americans who have died at the hands of police for the project.

In addition to the damage done to storefronts, large dumpsters and recycling bins in the alley behind Herban Bloom had been tipped over, and a For Lease sign in front of the Green Ginger restaurant had been splintered.

King County deputies responded to the call, said Neary and Amy Gilman, who works at Herban Bloom.

Reached for comment on Sunday, King County Sheriff’s spokesperson Tim Meyer said that no arrests had been made in the case. He recommended that The Beachcomber file a public disclosure request on the case number for the incident. That request was made on June 27.

The vandalism on Saturday follows another incident that took place on June 10, when multiple businesses including Giraffe, US Bank and Island Queen were vandalized.

According to Meyer, a man was transported off the island following that incident, and King County Sheriff’s office recommended that charges be filed in that case.

Meyer declined to provide any additional information on the June 10 incident, again recommending that The Beachcomber file a public disclosure request regarding that incident.

Giraffe owner Priscilla Schleigh, whose front door was smashed in the June 10 incident, said that the culprit of the June 10 incident was a local man who suffered from mental illness. He had come to her store to apologize after the incident, she said.

At Herban Bloom, worker Amy Gilman and store manager Cara Briskman both said they hoped islanders would not immediately assume the two separate acts of vandalism were committed by the same person.

The Beachcomber will continue to follow this story.

Schleigh’s business was also recently hit by a shoplifter, who was caught on the store’s video cameras stealing more than $200 worth of merchandise.

The culprit in that case, Schleigh said, was an off-island woman who made restitution to the shop for the items after being identified on social media.

Schleigh said that incidents like these take a toll.

“I get such joy from what I do,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears. “I love my shop and when people come in and steal from me, it turns me into an angry person.”