MOUNTAIN VIEW, Mo. (KY3) -Mountain View Police are searching for a man accused of posting a fake health department notice at Taste of India, falsely claiming the restaurant was closed over health and safety concerns.
The Mountain View Police Department posted surveillance video on social media in hopes of identifying the man and a blue Ford Ranger associated with the investigation.
Taste of India owners Harpreet Kaur and her husband, Charanjit Singh, opened the restaurant in March.
Kaur said they learned about the notice on their day off, Tuesday, Oct. 27, when their landlord contacted them.
“As soon as I saw his message, I made a call to the health department and asked them what’s going on,” Kaur said. “They said they don’t know, so they asked me to take the sign down, and they’d come tomorrow morning to get the sign.”
Police Chief Schwien said health department officials confirmed the notice was fake, despite its convincing appearance.
“The Department of Health brought it over. They were like, ‘This is fake.’ And I’m like, ‘Are you sure?’ Because I mean, it is a very good mimic of a realistic state sign,” Schwein said.
The chief said he has never worked a case like this before.
“This is a very odd case. It’s very targeted. No other restaurant was posted like this in the city,” Schwien said. “Cause this seemed to be very carefully thought out…planned.”
Police say they have exhausted their leads but are still trying to identify the truck and its owner.
Schwien described it as a blue 2019 to 2023 Ford Ranger with a SuperCab rather than a full four-door cab.
“Initially we thought because the vehicle is so recognizable we’d be able to identify this person fairly quickly and that has just not been the case,” Schwien said. “And so that has been the most challenging and frustrating part.”
While police are unsure of the suspect, Kaur is confident that it was not one of their customers.
“This was not a customer, I can say that for sure because any customer can come in this restaurant; they’re all nice, friendly, and they love the food, and they appreciate the service,” Kaur said. “Most of the customers that walk in appreciate us. We bring something new to the community. We don’t have a wide variety of food in this area.”
Since the incident, Kaur and Singh said the community has been a great support.
“Yesterday, more than 50% of people came in here to say, ‘they like us, they are glad we are here, and they want to make sure we stay longer’,” Kaur said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mountain View Police Department at 417-934-2525.
Email: mvpd@mountainviewpd.com
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