Police have arrested a Popeyes customer in Philadelphia after a dispute with a restaurant employee that ended with a stabbing allegedly in self-defense.
Just before midnight on October 15, police were called to a Popeyes fast food restaurant in the 6000 block of North Broad Street in Philadelphia’s Logan section to respond to an unruly customer assaulting employees.
Speaking to local news station WPVI-TV, Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small confirmed that a “28-year-old customer had some sort of dispute with employees over a food order and began attacking and assaulting one of the employees.”
In response to the customer’s violent behavior, several of the eight employees in the store “intervened and tried to push” the violent customer “back out from the front door,” according to Small.
“That’s when the 34-year-old employee getting assaulted and attacked pulled a knife and stabbed the 28-year-old,” the chief inspector added.
The employee reportedly stabbed the male suspect multiple times in the torso and head in self-defense. The suspect fled the scene after being stabbed, but police were able to follow a trail of blood to a nearby house, where they found the man injured and transported him to a hospital. He is reportedly in stable condition and is now in police custody.
Meanwhile, the Popeyes employee stayed at the scene and cooperated with detectives, and is thus far not being charged, according to police, who have tentatively deemed the incident an act of self-defense. Authorities also told WPVI-TV that the entire incident was caught on the store’s surveillance footage.
Reporters spoke with shoppers at the strip mall where the Popeyes is located, many of whom said that they were not surprised that a minor argument escalated to physical violence.
“They seem more impatient and they want instant gratification it seems like,” said Levin Tilghman.
“Everybody is on edge, everybody is antsy. You never know what could happen,” another customer told the reporter.
Meanwhile, this is far from the first time that a fight broke out at a Popeyes restaurant, as it seems that the popular chicken restaurant chain is also a popular choice for violence.
A Popeyes Employee Force Feeds a 32pc Family Meal to an Unruly Customer… pic.twitter.com/a5Efxm5UKE
— Fight Haven (@FightHaven) October 24, 2023
