KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) — A well-known Middle Eastern-themed restaurant in Westport is not giving up on the surrounding neighborhood it has served for over two years after an arson attack. After a month, Kansas City police released new videos and images of the suspects who intentionally set the fire.
Fouad Haha’s family restaurant has been the victim of vandalism before, but he says it remains open to the public.
Just one day after two men attempted to burn down Fouad’s store, his employees joined him and did whatever was necessary to get the store reopened.
“There is no damage to the kitchen area or appliances or anything like that,” said Fouad Haha. “The biggest damage was caused by a small fire in the lobby, but we are trying to get it cleaned up and reopen.”
Kansas City Police released this video showing the moment two men smashed a window. They threw something inside, setting the lobby on fire. Fouad doesn’t recognize them and doesn’t know why they would do this. But after what they did to his family’s livelihood, he hopes someone speaks out.
“We don’t like to see this in a neighborhood like this, but it happens frequently,” Fouad continued. “Hopefully the city can do its job and help the businesses secure the neighborhood.”
While Haha’s is boarded up, regulars are grateful the family hasn’t abandoned their neighborhood. They say they’re already lacking customers.
“It’s just very unfortunate because we need people like that here to stabilize the community,” said David Peyton as he walked past Haha’s Kebabs and Shawarma. “To give people a place to eat and a place to gather.”
Fouad’s family roots extend from Wyandotte Street to the Westport neighborhood, motivating him to return to serving locals and hopefully inspire more companies to invest here.
“We grew up in this community, so we wanted to give something back to it,” said Fouad. “By opening a store to support the community and the neighborhood and make people happy.”
“I hope that anyone who hears this and is looking for opportunities to grow their business here will come here,” Peyton added. “There are a lot of really good people here and we love and care about our community.”
Fouad Haha and his team have contacted their insurance agency about this. Their plan is to reopen at the end of August.
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