Chaotic scenes at popular beach cafe
Locals woke to scenes of destruction in Sydney’s Coogee on Tuesday after a feature window of a popular restaurant was shattered.
A photo shared to social media shows one of the large windows of Bathers Coogee cafe completely shattered overnight.
Glass blankets the footpath below the raised restaurant, which has been cordoned off from the public by police tape.
A local community page noted the cafe had been “hit hard” but acknowledged it wasn’t sure of the circumstances.
A Bathers manager told NCA NewsWire that police didn’t think the restaurant had been targeted by vandals.
“The police had a report and they didn’t see any vandalism from three independent witnesses,” he said.
“At this stage, the police believe the glass has just exploded.”
NSW Police confirmed officers attended the restaurant at 10.45pm on Monday after the window was “heard to smash”.
“Witnesses did not report seeing anyone so (police were) unable to determine how the window was damaged,” a police spokesman said.
“It may just have been a fault.”
According to the Bathers manager, police are operating under the understanding the glass shattered due to the heat. Glaziers have been called in to confirm the cause.
Sydney sweltered through a 30C day on Monday and the humidity remained high throughout the evening.
The window is one of three panels with thick glass looking out over Coogee beach. The other two panels remain intact.
As of Tuesday morning, shattered glass hangs precariously from the frame of the panel window at Bathers.
Bathers employee Athena said there didn’t appear to be any projectiles in the restaurant that may have been thrown at the window.
“The glass is quite thick, so if it’s someone that did it on purpose, it would be hard to break it.” she told NCA NewsWire.
“It’s quite bizarre. It’s so strange.”
Bathers has been getting quite a bit of attention from locals due to the mysterious incident, with crowds of people stopping to stare at the shattered glass.
“Everyone’s stopping to have a look. It does look like a full-on crime scene,” Athena said.
The manager said the cafe was “obviously not open today”, but it should be open for business again on Wednesday.
