An Ohio woman was arrested this week after things got a little spicy at a Chipotle restaurant.
According to FOX 8, the incident took place Tuesday night on Ridgewood Drive in Parma, a small city located about 20 minutes south of Cleveland. A now-viral video filmed by a customer shows a woman at the service counter while shouting at an employee. It’s unclear what started the confrontation, but the angry patron was clearly dissatisfied with her order, so much so that she slammed her burrito bowl on the counter before throwing it in the staffer’s face.
“Are you serious? This is ridiculous!” the customer can be heard shouting.
An anonymous eyewitness told the outlet that the eatery was “very busy” at the time of the altercation, but couldn’t provide details on what led to the assault. She claimed that the irate customer had expressed frustration over her order and ultimately left with her food. But the drama clearly wasn’t over. The witness said the angry patron returned to the Chipotle about five minutes later and began screaming at the employee and even went so far as to put her hands on another customer who tried to intervene and de-escalate the situation.
"At that moment, I wasn’t sure what to do because I felt so awful for [the worker],” the witness told FOX 8. “At the same time, I was nervous to get involved.”
As heard in the video, onlookers had a strong reaction to the assault, with one shouting, “Why did you do that?” The employee didn’t appear to retaliate and remained behind the counter as the suspect stormed out.
“We were so impressed with the way she was able to handle herself,” the witness said about the worker. “She had been dealing with it, the woman was screaming for 10 minutes before that and then came back in and continued to act that way.”
The witness and another customer wrote down the woman’s license plate number and gave it to the police. Ohio law enforcement later confirmed they had arrested Parma resident Rosemary Lynn Hayne in connection to the attack. The 39-year-old suspect was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.
The worker did not want to be identified but said the incident has left her with anxiety.
