New Restaurant Donates Bikes to City Police

Brookhaven’s newest restaurant, SMASH Kitchen & Bar, donated $1,000 and two BMW bicycles to the Brookhaven Police Department at their ribbon cutting ceremony today.

The money was raised at last week’s soft opening fundraiser where SMASH hosted a tasting and asked attendees to donate to the cause. The two bikes, which are official 1996 Atlanta Olympic commemorative bicycles, were included as a personal donation by restaurant owner, Tom Catherall.

“It is an honor for our police department to be the recipient of such generosity from a new community member,” Brookhaven Police Chief Gary Yandura said.

Brookhaven Police plan to launch a bike patrol in the next few months. Bike patrols are useful for crime reduction and for patrolling areas not normally accessible by patrol cars, such as parks and shopping centers. Officers on bikes also encourage more community interaction, which is a strong focus of the Brookhaven Police Department.

“We are grateful to SMASH for helping to make Brookhaven a safer place. I am also very pleased to see high quality businesses, like SMASH, contributing to economic development in Brookhaven,” Mayor J. Max Davis said.

SMASH’s parent company, Here to Serve, also owns Noche and soon to be open, Shucks. All three restaurants are located in the Town Brookhaven complex.

This report was provided by the city and edited for publication.