'We were just blind': Vancouver café staff still stung after pepper spray attack

Staff at a popular Vancouver café are shaken up after a man entered the restaurant Wednesday morning and attacked them, along with several customers, with pepper spray, just before rushing out.

The alleged attack happened at 10 a.m. at the Elbow café on Davie Street, affecting 15 customers and three staff members who were treated by B.C. ambulance at the scene. 

Police say they are currently trying to identify the suspect and understand his motive, but they currently have no leads.

"They're trying to canvas for video get some more witness statements, things like that," said Sgt. Jason Robillard from the Vancouver Police Department.

The manager and chef of the café, Daljit Lalli, was working when the attack happened.

"We couldn't breathe. Our eyes were hurting and then we told customers to run outside as fast as they can, and we ran outside."

​Even though they ran out immediately, Lalli said she couldn't have spotted the suspect if she'd tried. 

"We were just blind. We couldn't see him anywhere ... we were just covering our eyes."

Police were still able to get a brief description of the suspect after interviewing all the victims.

They describe him as:

• A white or South Asian male.
• Tall with a slim build.
• He wore sunglasses, a hooded sweatshirt, shorts and a bandana covering his face.

Lalli, who has worked at the café for 11 years, says this is the first time anything like this has happened in its 35 years. She says she suspects the attacker was sent by a friend of an unhappy customer from the day before who was offended by a server.

Police say they are aware of these allegations and are looking into finding more about the unhappy patron.

In the meantime, staff are hoping that this was an isolated event.

"It is a positive place. It's supposed to be a safe place for everybody, and were going to continually maintain that. One person can't ruin that for everybody," said server Nelson Lamarche who was not working on Wednesday.

A similar attack happened at the Bean Around the World café on Main and Broadway, Saturday evening, staff there say.

A person working there said someone entered the café and sprayed a customer, but police are unaware of any connection between the two events and say they will take all available information into account.