Washington restaurant owner forced to close doors after crime surge makes insurance impossible

Nirav Sheth, the former owner of Bistro Baffi, appeared on "Fox & Friends First" Monday morning to reveal what was the final straw.

"It was hard to get insurance, and I was getting pressured. The landlord [was] saying that, if I don't have business insurance, it will be a default on my lease. Unfortunately, I had to either quit, call it a bankruptcy or get out."

Sheth noted that a nearby Subway was robbed at gunpoint - one of several incidents that underscored the area's deteriorating safety - and, despite police briefly increasing patrols, the response from Democratic leadership amounted to "nothing."

Meanwhile, his own restaurant is still in debt, and applying for help has proven fruitless.

Data from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs indicates that crime has been on the rise in the Evergreen State in recent years.

Violent offenses rose 18.5%, murders rose 22.5% and robberies rose 23.4% between 2020 and 2023.