Michigan brewery may never recover from 'malicious' act of vandalism: 'Hard to get $200K out of 13-year-olds'
DirtBag Brewing owner fears there will be 'zero accountability' for the repeated targeting of his business
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryan Long's dreams of opening his Michigan brewing business may be dashed after a group of teen vandals left $200,000 in damages on the construction site.
The DirtBag Brewing Company owner told "Fox & Friends First" on Friday he fears there will be "zero accountability" for the 13-year-olds accused of destroying the property he planned to open this summer.
"They showed up three days in a row last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," Long began. "They broke every window, every overhead door, over 100 windows that were destroyed, ransacked the building. They destroyed a sky track that was in the building. They removed the oil cap, the hydraulic lines, they filled everything full of sand. They destroyed a 15-passenger van that we had there… to move things around and get things done. And completely, you know, put a huge setback on the building and the project to move forward."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NYC THIEVES STEAL OVER 2 DOZEN CARS WORTH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FROM LUXURY DEALERSHIP OVERNIGHT
Long described the three-day attack on the construction site as "very malicious and violent," adding he didn't know the attackers, their parents, or motive, but the suspects were previously known to police and had "little empathy" afterward.
DirtBag Brewing suffers $200,000 in damages after a group of 13-year-olds repeatedly vandalize the building construction site. (Fox News)
"I've spent the last seven to 10 years, seven years in the building process… I had saved, saved my money, saved materials, and put everything into this building. It's all self-funded. It's a labor of love," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I've exhausted everything in this. This is my savings, my retirement, you know, we planned on moving forward this summer and in getting things at least a soft opening available for the weekend. But at this point, it's you know, it's not even recoverable. We were uninsured due to prior thefts and vandalism… at this point, it's a total loss for me."
Long is not optimistic he'll be able to get adequate justice from the legal system for the crime.
"It's hard to get $200,000 out of three 13-year-olds," he said, adding the teens' parents have not come forward to take responsibility or offer help.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They'll probably get a slap on the hand and have zero accountability or any recourse or any type of restitution like that."
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Long began the dream project in 2012 after spending years searching for a property located on the Kal-Haven Trail. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Long cover repairs and legal fees.