SEGUIN, Texas — Multiple Seguin business owners woke up Wednesday morning to find their storefronts vandalized.
J.B. Servise is an insurance agent and runs a State Farm office downtown Seguin.
“I ignored the first phone call because it was 3:00 in the morning,” Servise said.
The phone rang once again, but this time Servise answered.
“The Seguin Police Department notified me that my office had been vandalized,” Servise said.
Bleary-eyed yet alarmed, Servise hit the road and pulled up to a dark building and smashed-out window.
“I’ve never had any vandalism, never anything stolen, nothing of this nature,” Servise said.
Seguin police officers arrested 30-year-old Jacob Valdez, who admitted to breaking the windows of nearly a dozen businesses along Court Street.
Officers took Valdez into custody for Criminal Mischief under $30,000.
Police say Valdez threw rocks at the windows of a Church’s Chicken, convenience store and a pharmacy.
“My relief is they didn’t enter the pharmacy,” said Doug Parker, owner of Parker’s City Pharmacy.
Parker noted it’s unfortunate for such crime to happen in Seguin, especially during a time where businesses are coping with the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’ve all been cut down, curtailed in business revenue having to do things differently,” Parker said.
Servise feels for those hit by the overnight crime spree, stressing the importance of bouncing back and continuing to do business as usual during these uncertain times.
“It’s a big eye sore for downtown Seguin to have boarded up windows and stuff, especially with what’s going on right now. There’s a lot of businesses closing down so I don’t think it sends a good message,” Servise said.