Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
A man ran from Pat\u2019s King of Steaks after throwing a cheesesteak through its service window around dinnertime Wednesday. But the camera he carried left an online trail behind him.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia police said Friday that the man, who turned himself in Thursday, was charged with harassment, a summary offense. Police declined to identify him, and it is not clear what prompted him to surrender.<\/p>\n
The video he apparently made of the encounter had surfaced on YouTube and Instagram, where Pat\u2019s owner Frank Olivieri said his information-technology team traced it to accounts filled with pranks, music, and Philadelphia street content.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to be famous,\u201d Olivieri said. \u201cHe got exactly what he asked for. Now, he needs to be accountable for his actions and his words.\u201d<\/p>\n
The YouTube account, under the name h4ll0w33n, presented the episode as a food review titled \u201cI Threw This Cheesesteak in His Face Geno\u2019s Steaks,\u201d misidentifying the stand with the name of another landmark eatery across the intersection of Ninth Street, Wharton Street, and Passyunk Avenue.<\/p>\n
A screenshot of the video\u2019s thumbnail showed what appeared to be an AI-generated image of a cheesesteak flying into a man\u2019s face, with \u201cTHIS CHEESESTEAK SUCKED!\u201d in large type and \u201cYAM TV\u201d beneath it.<\/p>\n
By Friday morning, the video was unavailable. YouTube said the account associated with it had been terminated.<\/p>\n
An Instagram account using the name @h4ll0w33n___ remained online with about 10,500 followers. The video also appeared on a newly created Instagram account called YAM TV, which described itself as \u201cThe Reality Food Critic Show\u201d covering Philadelphia and beyond. Neither account disclosed the man\u2019s name. No one from the accounts replied to The Inquirer\u2019s messages requesting comment.<\/p>\n
Olivieri said his IT team searched online using a photograph of the man and found the accounts after he posted his recording.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow brazen are you to assault somebody and then post it?\u201d Olivieri said. \u201cThank God for stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivieri had offered a $5,000 reward Thursday for information leading to the man\u2019s arrest and conviction. On Friday, he said he had allocated the money to someone who contacted him with information.<\/p>\n
The episode began shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, after the customer ordered a cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and onions.<\/p>\n
Surveillance video shows him sitting at a table outside Pat\u2019s, pulling apart the sandwich with his hands without eating it. He later returned to the window, exchanged words with general manager Tom Francano, threw the cheesesteak at him, and ran.<\/p>\n
Francano can be seen throwing pieces of the sandwich back toward the fleeing man. He was not injured, police said.<\/p>\n
By Friday, Francano was willing to revisit the moment under friendlier circumstances.<\/p>\n