The Rockville, Maryland, man accused of throwing a beer keg through the front window of Georgetown Cupcake in D.C. last week was identified by his father from a police alert and later turned himself in, according to court documents.
Police said 28-year-old Charles Joseph Ali was arrested Thursday on a felony destruction of property charge.
In court documents, officials said his father recognized him in the alert put out by police, arranged for him to surrender at the Second District station and expressed that his sister was “upset” about the incident.
Surveillance video showed the suspect first trying to lift a D.C. Department of Public Works trash can before grabbing the beer keg and throwing it through the bakery’s front window around midnight Monday, May 18.
An employee inside hid in the back after hearing the loud noise and glass shatter, police said. No one was injured.
Police said the suspect ran from the bakery after causing about $10,000 in damage.
“That level of disregard for others is shocking,” Georgetown Cupcake owners Katherine Berman and Sophie LaMontagne said in a statement.
Police also said they believe the same man was tied to another property crime last month at a business in the 1900 block of M Street NW shortly before 5 a.m. on April 24.
Ali pleaded not guilty in court Friday, was released on his own recognizance and was ordered to stay away from Georgetown Cupcake. He is due back in court June 11 for a preliminary hearing.
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