Capitola business community helps restaurant after break-in

Owner of Pono Hawaiin Grill and Tap, Timmy Hunt, knew something wasn’t right when he arrived to the site of his future restaurant, Friday. “I got a phone call on Good Friday from my partner. He let me know that somebody took all of our tools and basically everything,” said Hunt.

Hunt said nearly $15,000 worth of tools and equipment was stolen from inside the restaurant. The building has been under construction since February. Capitola Police responded to the incident, Friday morning, but whoever ran off with the supplies was long gone. “It was a lot to take in. Obviously, more so for my partner because it was his live’s work. He’s used these tools for his trade and his livelihood. His livelihood was essentially completely halted,” said Hunt.

Hunt and his close circle of business partners took on the construction project, themselves. After they discovered insurance would not cover the loss, they asked for help on social media. Hunt created a GoFundMe that caught the attention of a nearby hardware shop. “Troy, the construction guy that was doing the work, ended up coming here that same day and made a pretty large purchase of pretty much everything that was needed to get back on his feet,” said George Gomez, salesman at San Lorenzo Lumber.

San Lorenzo Lumber dediced to give the restaurant’s owners the discount they needed to purchase the tools. “It was a pretty good deal. I’m going to say they were really happy with it,” said Gomez.

The restaurant was also able to raise over $10,000 in donations from people and businesses across the country. “it just gives me so much hope for humanity and I’m just forever grateful,” said Hunt.

Owners of Pono Kitchen and Tap plan to continue construciton with the donations they recieved. Their goal is to open sometime this summer.