Tuesday, May 26, 2026
By Mia DiNunzio and Emma Ibrahim
A Maryland man was arrested and charged last week with felony destruction of property after allegedly throwing a beer keg and shattering the glass window of a beloved neighborhood staple—Georgetown Cupcake.
Metropolitan Police arrested 28-year-old Rockville, Maryland resident Charles Joseph Ali on Thursday, who pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance on Friday. Ali was released on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from Georgetown Cupcake.
The sisters shared video security footage on Instagram, which showed Ali carrying a keg to the bakery and hurling it through the window around 11 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, destroying the glass and pushing a rack. While the business was closed, several employees were inside, cleaning and preparing the bakery for the next day. One baker witnessed the vandalism attack and rushed to the back for safety. There were no injuries reported.
In their Instagram post caption, LaMontagne and Berman appealed to the public for help identifying the suspect and directing them to contact the Metropolitan Police if they have any information.
A D.C. police report estimated the damage cost to be around $10,000. The morning after the incident, Georgetown Cupcake employees boarded up the window and continued serving sweet treats to customers, who are often seen lining up the street for a taste of their cupcakes.
Damage as seen from the inside of Georgetown Cupcake. Photo by Miles Eichler.
“This week, our community has shown up for us in the most extraordinary way,” said bakery co-owners Sophie LaMontagne and her sister Katherine Berman in a post on Instagram. “Thank you to Detective Leiva and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department for all of their work in this investigation.”
According to the owners, the vandalism was unlike anything the business had experienced in its 18 years of operating in Georgetown. The timing of the incident also added additional stress, as it occurred just days before Memorial Day weekend, one of the bakery’s busiest times of the year.
Despite the damage, employees spent the night cleaning the storefront, sweeping up broken glass and boarding up the shattered window so the bakery could reopen the next morning. The business remained open while repairs were being arranged.
“This isn’t just property damage; it’s reckless, dangerous, and completely unacceptable behavior that could have seriously hurt someone,” said the co-owners in the caption of their post, where they also tagged the Metropolitan Police Department, Mayor Muriel Bowser and local news outlets
Metropolitan Police later announced that they believe the same suspect accused of property damage in the Georgetown Cupcake case may be tied to a similar incident at another M Street business. Early in the morning on Friday, April 24, officials said that a man entered The Row office building in the 1900 block of M Street, where he picked up a flower vase and smashed it on the floor and threw other objects.
Over the years, the shop, which opened in 2008, became one of Georgetown’s most recognizable businesses after being featured on the TLC reality show DC Cupcakes, which followed the sisters as they built the bakery into a nationally known brand.