Georgetown Cupcake co-owner Katherine Berman shares new video of keg tossing vandal
Police in Washington, D.C., are asking for the public's help identifying a vandalism suspect menacing businesses on M Street, including the famous Georgetown Cupcake shop featured on the reality series, "DC Cupcakes."
The Maryland man accused of throwing a beer keg through the front window of a popular cupcake bakery turned himself in after his own father recognized him from surveillance footage circulated by police, court documents reveal.
Charles Joseph Ali of Rockville, Maryland, is charged with felony destruction of property after he allegedly flung the metal barrel through the front window of Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, D.C. Sunday night.
According to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Ali’s father recognized his son after authorities released surveillance images from the alleged incident in an effort to identify the suspect.
On Thursday, Ali arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department’s Second District Station alongside his father and attorney to surrender to authorities, court documents revealed.
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The Metropolitan Police Department says this suspect is accused of a string of vandalism attacks on M Street in Georgetown, including the famous bakery, Georgetown Cupcake. (Metropolitan Police Department)
Appearing in court on Friday, Ali pleaded not guilty to the felony charge and a judge ordered that he be released ahead of his trial, but instructed him to stay away from Georgetown Cupcake.
Ali is also suspected in connection with an April vandalism incident involving a separate nearby business, but has not been charged in that case.
Photos shared by the cupcake shop shows the smashed front entrance of the store with a metal barrel on the ground surrounded by broken glass.
Georgetown Cupcake owners were seeking public assistance to identify a vandal who threw a beer keg through the bakery’s front window while employees were inside. (Georgetown Cupcake)
Georgetown Cupcakes rose to fame after it was featured on Discovery’s "DC Cupcakes" for three seasons, and is often seen with a line that stretches around the block.
Owners Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Berman, who are sisters, both quit their careers in the finance and fashion industries to launch the famed pastry shop.
The Metropolitan Police Department was asking for the public's help identifying this man, who is accused of a string of vandalism attacks on M Street in Georgetown, including the famous bakery, Georgetown Cupcake. (Metropolitan Police Department)
"Our shop is open," the sisters said in a joint statement Thursday after Ali's arrest. "We will keep doing what we have always done."
The store reopened just hours after the alleged attack and used plywood to cover the destroyed window.
Berman told Fox News Digital earlier this week that a lone female employee came face-to-face with the keg tosser around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, and subsequently hid in the back of the shop as the front entrance was demolished.
WATCH: Video shows man throwing beer keg through popular DC bakery window
"She was absolutely terrified," Berman said. "She still is. She is really shaken by this. It causes a lot of psychological damage to you."
Surveillance footage shows the suspect leaving the area after hurling the keg through the window, however.
According to Berman, the individual first attempted to dislodge a metal trash can from the curb, but was unsuccessful. Additional surveillance footage shared by a nearby business showed the suspect walking around the corner and retrieving a metal keg that was outside a nearby home, Berman added.
"He's violent, and I think that, to be honest with you, in our society, we live in a civil society where there's an expectation for us to respect each other, our property, and clearly he didn't do any of those things," Berman told Fox News Digital.
Ali is scheduled to return to court on June 11.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Ali’s defense attorney for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
