Man Arrested for Smashing Glass Door at Burbank Smart & Final

Burbank police arrested a 50-year-old man Sunday morning on suspicion of felony vandalism after he allegedly kicked and shattered a glass door at a Smart and Final store on West Burbank Boulevard.

Officers responded to the store in the 3700 block of West Burbank Boulevard following a vandalism call. According to the Burbank Police Department, store management reported that the man kicked and broke the glass door after it failed to open for him. He then fled the store.

Officers located the suspect nearby shortly after the incident. A store employee identified him as the person responsible for the damage. The suspect, Phillip Lehman, 50, was taken into custody on suspicion of felony vandalism. Formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Under California law, vandalism crosses into felony territory when the damage is valued at $400 or more. Commercial glass doors, which typically run several hundred to several thousand dollars to replace depending on the panel size and installation requirements, frequently meet that threshold. The specific damage estimate in this case has not been released by police.

The Smart and Final on West Burbank Boulevard sits along one of the city’s busier commercial corridors, flanked by a dense mix of retail, fast food, and small businesses that draw steady foot traffic throughout the week. A shattered entry door at a grocery store on a Sunday morning would likely have disrupted early shoppers, though the extent of any operational impact is not known. Smart and Final did not respond to a request for comment.

Felony vandalism arrests are not especially common in Burbank, a city that consistently posts lower crime numbers than neighboring communities and benefits from an active, visible police presence along its commercial strips. The department’s relatively quick response and apprehension of Lehman near the scene reflects that presence.

Lehman has not been convicted of any crime in connection with this incident. The District Attorney’s Office will determine whether to file formal charges and what those charges will be.

The Burbank Police Department provided details of the arrest but has not released information about any prior history or stated motive connected to Lehman or the alleged incident. Whether the door’s malfunction was a mechanical failure or a matter of timing, such as the store not yet being open, has not been addressed in publicly available information.

Commercial vandalism, even when it stems from something as abrupt as a frustration with a stuck door, carries real costs for small and mid-sized retailers. Glass replacement, temporary boarding, and any associated security response add up quickly. For a grocery store, an unsecured or damaged entry point can also create liability and safety concerns that require immediate attention regardless of the day or hour.

Burbank’s commercial districts have generally remained stable, and incidents like this tend to be isolated rather than part of broader patterns. Still, business owners along West Burbank Boulevard and throughout the city’s retail zones pay close attention to any uptick in property crime, particularly as the region continues to manage the economic pressures that have contributed to higher rates of retail-related incidents across Los Angeles County in recent years.

The case now moves to the DA’s office for charging review, the standard next step following a felony arrest in Los Angeles County. If charges are filed, Lehman would face arraignment and the formal legal process that follows. Conviction on a felony vandalism charge can carry county jail or state prison time, probation, and restitution to the property owner.

The Burbank Police Department has not indicated whether additional information will be released as the case proceeds.