Dearborn — A large van smashed into a south-end pharmacy early Tuesday morning in an apparent act of vandalism that destroyed a wall, six aisles of over-the-counter merchandise and some prescription drugs.

Owners of the company, Sheba Pharmacy, 10136 Vernor Highway, said nothing was stolen.

Co-owner Dean Murshed said he received a call from the building’s alarm company about a break-in at about 3:47 a.m. Tuesday morning. He rushed to the scene and found an abandoned white Ford Econoline van parked inside the building.

Murshed said the van was stolen, and that police had spoken to a potential witness. But police said it was too early to reveal details about the investigation.

“It’s early on… We’re following up on some leads,” said Dearborn Police Lieutenant William Leavens.

On two previous occasions, bricks had been thrown through windows of the pharmacy, once without any property having been stolen, and once in which minor goods were taken, according to police and the owners.

“It would appear that they are connected,” said Leavens about the three break-ins.

Murshed said he and co-owner Abdulla Sharif had bulletproof glass installed after the first two break-ins.

Murshed

“We made it bulletproof thinking that it would stop people from breaking in. We never thought someone would drive a van through here,” Murshed said.

Sharif said he was shocked that someone would risk his or her life driving into a building, seemingly to shut down a business.

“Somebody doesn’t want them to do business here,” he said. “They’ve only been open since September and this is the third time they break in.”

Murshed said the company opened in September as a Yemeni-owned and operated pharmacy, with the intention of providing better communication for the high concentration of Yemeni Americans in the area.

He said other nearby pharmacies may have been hurt by the new competition, losing Yemeni American customers to Sheba “due to the simple fact that we speak the same dialect.”

But he said he does not necessarily suspect any other business owners of being behind the destruction.

“They have been professional with us,” he said.

A construction company was at the site Tuesday afternoon preparing it for reconstruction.

Murshed said he plans to rebuild quick and beef up security when it opens again.

“We’re going to come back to serve our community,” he said. “We want to get back to business as soon as possible… We’re going to come back and be bigger and better than ever.”