A man films himself ordering a cheesesteak at Pat’s King of Steaks, then allegedly throws it in the manager’s face and runs

A man has been charged with harassment after he allegedly hurled a cheesesteak at the manager of Pat’s King of Steaks in Philadelphia, according to Dexerto. The man turned himself in, and police have not publicly named him. The restaurant had put up $5,000 for tips that could lead to his arrest. Officers went to the shop around 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 after an assault was reported.

No one was reported injured. The restaurant sits on the 1200 block of Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia, according to NBC Philadelphia. Tom Francano, the restaurant’s general manager, told CBS Philadelphia that the customer came back to the window about 10 minutes after buying a sandwich and said, “This steak’s garbage.”

Francano said he asked other customers about their food, and they told him it was fine. He said the man then threw the sandwich at him. Francano has worked at the restaurant for nearly five decades, and he said nothing like this had happened to him there before.

What the owner says

Owner Frank Olivieri said surveillance video shows the man pulling the sandwich apart before he approached the window. “The guy picked the sandwich up, threw it in his face and ran off. The coward,” Olivieri said. Francano also said, “I’m not hurt, I’m fine.”

Olivieri suggested the man wanted attention online. “He wants to be an influencer. He wants to be famous … stop hiding behind a keyboard, stop hiding behind the camera,” he said. A video posted online later reportedly shows the confrontation as the customer filmed it. The creator reportedly said he reviews restaurants and throws food when he dislikes it. The shop plans to bar cameras from its premises.

The charge is a summary offense, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported that detectives first investigated the incident as an assault. Olivieri questioned the charge, asking, “What are they going to give him, community service?” Under Pennsylvania’s harassment law, 18 Pa.C.S. § 2709, a person commits harassment when, “with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another,” the person “strikes, shoves, kicks or otherwise subjects the other person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same.”

The law says an offense under that part “shall constitute a summary offense.” The reports reviewed do not say which subsection police used. A person convicted of a summary offense in Pennsylvania may be sentenced to a term of “not more than 90 days,” under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1105. The fine is “$300” when no higher fine is set for the offense, under 18 Pa.C.S. § 1101. Those are maximums for a conviction, not a ruling in this case.

The charge is an allegation, and the man is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.