Cameras caught the moment that a good samaritan jumped to defend a Subway restaurant manager in California who was allegedly punched in the face by an irate customer, ABC7 reported Thursday.
The customer, allegedly upset that he didn’t receive enough ham on his sandwich, went behind the counter and allegedly clocked the manager before Subway employees and the good samaritan tackled him, according to ABC7.
The video appears to show a large, heavy-set man punching and pushing the manager, Monique Larios, before a customer jumps on his back and appears to land two right hooks to the alleged attacker’s face. (RELATED: Video Shows Good Samaritan Land Wicked Cross Body Block On Criminal Fleeing Police)
CAUGHT ON VIDEO: A customer punched a manager at a California Subway restaurant in the face because he wanted more ham on his sandwich. Details on the melee at 11 p.m. on Eyewitness News. https://t.co/TqLbKs1X3l pic.twitter.com/CaFf70O3V9
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 9, 2024
“I did not expect it,” said Larios. “He comes around the corner … I go, ‘What are you going to do? Hit me over ham?’ And he hit me. He punched me. All I could remember was just black.”
Larios said that she was called into the situation by another employee, who told her that the alleged attacker was angry because he allegedly didn’t get double ham on his sandwich even though the store apparently had proof he hadn’t paid for extra meat, ABC7 reported.
“I still can’t feel half of my face,” said Larios. “I’m scared that there’s going to be some kind of [permanent] damage. I’ve never been so numb to where my face feels like it’s a mask.”
Although local police said they had arrested the allegedly unruly customer, Larios said she was afraid to go back to work, according to ABC7.
“I did not deserve this at all. I was in there just doing my job,” Larios, who is reportedly taking legal action against the customer, said. “There was nothing wrong. The sandwich was made up to Subway standards, I don’t know. He didn’t even give me a chance to try to figure it out … what did he want?”
At four feet-eleven inches Larios didn’t have a chance against her much larger attacker, KMPH reported.
“This guy was 6’5, almost 400 pounds,” Larios told KMPH.
When asked if behavior like this is ever okay, Police Sergeant Brent Cedarquist told KMPH, “No. Never.”