This past Mother’s Day, families gathered at Kiku Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar in East Point, Georgia, for a peaceful dinner. Instead, some got involved in a fight between customers and restaurant staff all over a smile. According to witness statements, an employee was cleaning a table and smiling when a customer said “Why you smiling? Ain’t s–t funny.”
The busboy, Demonte Harrison, told the female customer it was part of his job to smile and she couldn’t tell him what to do. That response caused a male companion of the woman to jump up and punch Harrison, and soon at least three more men joined in the fight against the one busboy. Staff at the restaurant came to their co-worker’s defense and began battling the belligerent customers. Soon trays, plates and an ice bucket flew across the restaurant as people screamed in terror and customers as well as some workers began to flee the establishment. But some customers pulled out their cellphones to catch the mayhem as it unfolded. One customer told the local news “Wow, I’m going to have a lot of views on this if I post it. Wow, I can’t believe this is actually happening. And wow, I hope I don’t get hit with something.”
The owner of the restaurant, Charlie Son, said that his employees were sticking up for the busboy. Sadly, the restaurant owner stated he lost about $5K because several customers left the restaurant during the fight; including the four men and woman who started the fight. East Point police have released five photos of persons of interest in the fight. The police are trying to determine what happened before the fight broke out.
The five persons of interest face charges of battery, and theft of service since they left without paying.
