SPARTANBURG, S.C. — An older customer at a South Carolina restaurant overpowered a younger man who police say stomped on his foot and then punched him in the face, according to surveillance video and a police report. A restaurant employee later pulled the pair apart after bystanders in the lobby failed to intervene.
The confrontation unfolded Monday afternoon at Boots and Sonny’s in Spartanburg. Video shows a younger man bumping into the older customer near the counter before punches fly. The older man, whose shirt was ripped in the struggle, threw the other man over the counter as staff and customers looked on.
Employee Hakeem LaPierre, 37, said he watched the situation escalate and decided he could not wait.“I saw it was a young guy jumping on an older man and then I saw a lobby full of men and nobody moved,” LaPierre told FOX Carolina. “I’m like I got to separate the two because he already bust the man face open and he rip his shirt.”
LaPierre, who had worked at the restaurant only two months, pulled the men apart from over the counter. He later downplayed the attention.“I’m not looking for the hero title. I just do what I expect another person to do if they see that happening to my father or grandfather,” he said. “It was a regular day and somebody decided to fight. All I know is he stepped on that man’s foot and I know he stepped on the wrong toe.”
According to the police report, the older man was leaving the restaurant when the other customer stomped on his foot. After he asked why, the younger man began punching him in the face. The victim then threw him over the counter. The suspect got up and started hitting a worker behind the counter before other employees joined in to stop him, police said.
Staff told local reporters the man accused of starting the fight had caused problems at the restaurant before. Officers also noted that his description matched that of a vandalism suspect who allegedly threw a large chunk of concrete at the window of a black Dodge on South Church Street.
Gregory Tyricus Jacobs, 24, was arrested and charged with two counts of third-degree assault and battery. He was booked into the Spartanburg County Detention Center on a surety bond.
In comments circulating after the video spread, the older man said his wife made him go to the emergency room. He said he has had three heart attacks and is on blood thinners, which is why he sought medical care even though he did not want to go.
The viral footage has drawn attention for two reasons: the older customer’s ability to hold his own after being attacked, and LaPierre’s decision to act when a lobby full of other men did not.
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