A pregnant woman who was angry that she wasn’t able to get a beef patty from a restaurant in the Bronx smashed the store’s front windows with a baseball bat, police say. The bizarre incident was caught on surveillance cameras in March and police are hoping to identify the woman, according to WABC-TV.
The owner of Back Home Restaurant told the news station the woman caused nearly $2,000 in damage to the window. No one was injured. Employees at the restaurant said the woman was a regular customer there, but they did not know her name. They said she previously was “always cordial” and talked to the restaurant workers about her pregnancy. She became irate after ordering beef patties and being told they did not have any available.
According to police, the woman cursed at employees and then left the restaurant. She came back five minutes later with a bat and began smashing the restaurant’s windows, police said. The store’s owner told WABC-TV that if the unidentified woman had waited about 10 minutes, the beef patty would have been ready.
You can watch the surveillance video below:
The Jamaican restaurant at East 169th Street in the Claremont area is known for its beef patties, according to online reviews. On Yelp, one customer wrote, in 2014, “Without a doubt the best beef patties I have ever eaten. The patties are soft, they do not crumble like other patties.”
The incident at the Morrisania eatery occurred on January 15 about 4:20 p.m., according to the NYPD.
The hangry woman fled from the area before police arrived. The surveillance video captured a clear image of her face, but police have not been able to identify her. The video footage was released to the public on February 9 in an effort to track her down.
“They heard a loud noise…we thought it was gunshots or something like that; there was glass shattered everywhere,” Back Home Restaurant owner Simone Johnson told WPIX-TV. “We’ve been in business for over 20 years and we’ve never seen anything like this. Never.”
The NYPD said the woman is wanted for criminal mischief at the 750 East 169 Street restaurant. The NYPD’s 42nd Precinct is investigating. “Seen her around? Know who she is ?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!?Calls are anonymous.?You may receive up to a $2500 REWARD!” police said on Twitter.
“The individual was informed that there were no beef patties in stock at which time the unknown individual became irate,” police said in a press release. Detectives said she used an aluminum bat to smash the glass window.
Police said the woman was last seen wearing a black and white winter jacket with a fur hood, black leggings and black and white sneakers.
Johnson told The New York Post the woman appeared to be about 8 months pregnant. She said the woman would come in and buy other items along with beef patties, including ox tail stew and curried chicken. But on January 15, Johnson said the woman wanted one of the restaurant’s beef patties.
Johnson told The Post the woman yelled, “What do you mean the patties are not ready?” when she was told they weren’t available. According to Johnson, the woman didn’t want the other styles of patties that were available right away, including chicken and vegetable, and also didn’t want to wait 10 minutes for the new batch of homemade beef patties to be finished.
“She started pacing back and forth,” Johnson told the newspaper. She said the restaurant worker told the woman she was going to the back kitchen and told the customer, “please let me know when you are ready to order.”
Johnson told the newspaper the woman yelled for the employee to come back and yelled, “You are lying! The beef patties are ready! That’s what I really want!,” Johnson told the Post. “She started cursing, using the ‘F’word.”
She then left the store and came back five minutes later with the bat and hit the window about eight times, Johnson said.
“If something could do something like that over a beef patty, they’re capable of doing something else,” Johnson told WCBS-TV. “She threw the money at the employee … and she grabbed the bag out of her hand and walked out.”
While the incident and the damage caused was unfortunate, Johnson said it was a telling review of her restaurant’s beef patties, telling The Post, “That goes to tell you how good they are.”
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