A man allegedly damaged furniture and fixtures at Henri Charpentier’s Orchard Central outlet in the early hours of Sunday, 13 September, leaving the pastry shop with an estimated repair bill of about S$1,000.
The incident happened at around 4am, when the outlet was closed, according to Ami, a director of Suzette International, which operates Henri Charpentier Singapore. She spoke to Mothership about the incident, which was captured on the shop’s CCTV system.
The store later lodged a police report. Police confirmed to Mothership that a report had been made and investigations are ongoing.
CCTV Footage Shows Man Throwing Furniture
According to Mothership, CCTV footage showed the man inside the store shouting and hitting or throwing furniture and other fixtures.
At one point, he allegedly picked up a table, threw it down and dragged it outside the outlet before throwing it down again.
He was also seen hitting cushioned seats and removing the backrest from one of them.
Mothership reported that the man appeared intoxicated in the footage, although this has not been independently established. Another man and a woman were also present, but their relationship to him is unknown.
The man eventually left at about 4.24am.
Staff arriving to open the outlet discovered the damage at around 9am. Despite the incident, the Orchard Central store continued operating that day.
Henri Charpentier’s official website lists its Orchard Central outlet at 181 Orchard Road.
Store Says Nothing Appears to Have Been Stolen
Ami told Mothership that, as far as the company was aware, nothing had been taken from the shop.
She said people had entered the outlet without permission after operating hours on previous occasions, but this was the first such incident in which the store’s property was damaged.
The incident was reported to both Orchard Central’s management and the police on 13 September.
The company is still assessing the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged items, but Ami estimated that the amount would likely be around S$1,000.
Store Hopes Man Will Come Forward
Rather than seeking to publicly shame the man, the company hopes he, or someone who knows him, will contact the store and take responsibility for the damage, Ami said.
She told Mothership that the company did not know what had happened to the man before the incident and was prepared to resolve the matter reasonably if he came forward and arranged to reimburse the business.
As of 16 September, police investigations are ongoing, and no information has been released on whether anyone has been arrested or charged.
