Man accused of vandalizing San Carlos Park pizza shop

A man accused of violently vandalizing a family-owned pizza shop in San Carlos Park remains at large, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

On Jan. 22, the owner of Luigina’s Pizza & Grill on South Tamiami Trail, Loui Rondao, found the man sleeping near the front door of his restaurant last week.

“He had rearranged the booths, thrown an ash tray across the sidewalk, did some damage,” Rondao said. “He broke a plant, threw a specials board down and he had napkins strewn all over the place.”

Rondao asked the man, who remains unidentified, to cleanup or else he would call the police. The owner then snapped a photo of the man, thinking he would stay away from the restaurant.

“Now I have a picture of you, you wouldn’t come back,” Rondao said. “That’s all I wanted, was for him not to come back.”

The man came back a day later and surveillance video appears to show the man throwing a rock through the company van and urinating near the front door.

“It’s insulting, it’s disgusting, I was in shock,” Rondao said. “At first, I didn’t even know what it was, then when I figured it out that’s when I said, ‘Oh my God, this guy is really a nutcase.'”

Rondao believes the man came in for a job interview a few months prior to the incident.

“I know as a matter of fact that it was him, it’s not like maybe it was someone else or it could’ve been him or that … no, this was the guy,” Rondao said. “I have a picture of him, we just need help finding him.”

The man caused about $2,000 worth of damage and deputies are still attempting to track him down.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at 239-477-1810.