A $5,000 reward is being offered by the owner of South Philly’s Pat’s King of Steaks after, he said, an employee was attacked when a customer threw a cheesesteak in his face during an altercation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Pat’s King of Steaks owner, Frank Olivieri, told NBC10 that the incident happened at the shop, along the 1200 block of Passyunk Avenue, at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday when a man, who he believes was some kind of social media influencer, bought a cheesesteak, but mangled the sandwich, then complained about the food. <\/p>\n
“The guy played with the sandwich. I have it on video, just ripped the sandwich apart with his hands,” said Olivieri. <\/p>\n
After a verbal altercation, Olivieri said, the unidentified individual grabbed the cheesesteak and threw it at manager, Tom Francano, who has worked at the shop for 47 years.<\/p>\n
“The guy picked the sandwich up and threw it in his face and ran away, the coward,” he said.<\/p>\n
However, Francano told NBC10 he was unharmed by the cheesesteak in the attack. <\/p>\n
“I’m not hurt, I’m fine,” he said.<\/p>\n
Francano said he suspected something was awry with the customer the moment he stepped to the counter. <\/p>\n
The guy immediately seemed like an influencer “trying to make a little name for himself,” Francano said, as he walked around the business and took photos and video with a cell phone on a stick. <\/p>\n
“I knew exactly what he was doing,” said Francano. <\/p>\n
He didn’t concern himself initially with the man’s behavior as, Francano said, the man ordered a cheesesteak and went to a table.<\/p>\n
But, Francano said, he noticed the man “pulled apart and squeezed” the cheesesteak before he “mangles the steak up a little” and returned it to the counter. <\/p>\n
“He says ‘steak’s really horrible,’ you know,” recalled Francano. <\/p>\n
Francano replied that he didn’t make it that way and he saw what the man had done to the food.<\/p>\n
When the customer wasn’t satisfied with that answer, Francano said, he asked other customers at the shop if they had any issues with their meals. <\/p>\n
They didn’t, he said. <\/p>\n
“That’s when he got a little pissed off,” said Francano. “He got mad. He picked the steak up and threw it at me.” <\/p>\n
Though he was unhurt, Francano said he considered the incident an assault and he hopes the individual can be found and charged for his actions. <\/p>\n
“I’m not used to getting a steak thrown in my face, ya know?” he said. “If you don’t like the steak, be a little nicer about it.”<\/p>\n
The incident has been reported to police and officers were at the scene on Thursday morning. <\/p>\n
Now, the owner of the eatery is offering a $5,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest in this incident. <\/p>\n
The suspect, police said, has been described at being about six feet tall, weighing about 170 lbs. and was wearing a blue Under Armor jacker, black shorts and red Beats headphones when the incident occurred. <\/p>\n
No arrest had been made as of about noon on Thursday. <\/p>\n
“We will find him. $5000 will pull him out from under whatever kind of rock he’s living under now,” said Olivieri.<\/p>\n