Parking booth in Providence burned to ground during riot

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A parking booth in Providence is nothing but a pile of rubble and ash.

It was one of many properties and businesses that were impacted across the city during a riot that broke out late Monday night and into Tuesday morning.

Rob Sauro told NBC 10 News he managed the parking booth, with is located near Citizens Plaza.

"I was notified by a coworker that my booth was on fire," Sauro said. "I couldn't believe it."

Then, he said his boss contacted him less than 30 minutes with more bad news.

"He said it burned down to the ground," Sauro said. "I've been in this lot for four years and all my stuff was in there. That was my office."

Sauro said he saw video online that showed a large crowd marching through the area, damaging and destroying businesses.

"They smashed windows over there," he said, pointing to a building across the street.

Looters also hit Cafe Nuovo, a nearby restaurant that just reopened for indoor dining.

Sean Scannell, who is the general manager, said a window was smashed in and patio furniture was tossed into the Providence River.

Crews from Providence River Boat Company helped recover a few of the tables, but he said some others remain in the water.

"The tables that have been feeding us and feeding the community for two weeks are now gone and we don't know when we will feel comfortable to bring them back in again," Scannell said, referencing outdoor dining.

Scannell also said the bar was ransacked.

"They took quite a bit of our inventory," he said, adding that a computer and iPad was stolen, as well.

He added that they boarded up the window but estimated that they are facing "tens of thousands of dollars."

But they hope to reopen again soon.

"We've got to keep everything in front of us and stay in contact with our leaders and out police and see when we can feel comfortable to open up again," Scannell said.

Sauro shared similar sentiments.

"Hopefully, we'll get back to normal very soon," he said. "We'll get our structure back up and we'll be back in business. I've been out of work for so long because of COVID-19 and now that I'm back at work, not even a week and a half later, and this happens. I've got bills to pay and my boss didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. We were just targeted."