Posted on 01/29/2009 4:45:53 PM PST by nickcarraway
Authorities Say Restaurant Owner Assaulted Customer Who Complained
PALM COAST, Fla. -- An angry restaurant owner pistol-whipped and beat a customer who complained his calzone order was incorrect and requested a refund, authorities said.
Goomba's Pizzeria owner Joseph Milano is charged with aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon.
According to a police report, security footage from the pizzeria shows that Milano struck Richard Phinney with a gun. He then jumped over a counter and started to assault Phinney and his roommate.
Phinney was taken to a hospital and treated for a head wound.
Everybody's had a restaurant get their food order wrong a time or two.
Like most people, Richard Phinney figured the mistake would be corrected and his takeout calzone replaced when he called to complain. But instead of a new calzone, Phinney got a trip to the emergency room and a bloodied head after the owner of Goomba's pizzeria pistol-whipped and beat him, according to a Flagler County sheriff's report.
"I don't even want to go out to a fast food place now because I don't know what to expect," Phinney said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Goomba's Pizzeria owner Joseph Milano, 40, "seemed really nice" when he invited Phinney and his roommate Richard Capie into the restaurant on Friday night , Phinney said. Phinney and Capie were having a cookout at their Palm Coast home that night but Capie's 11-year-old daughter didn't like what was on the menu. So the pair ordered her a calzone, just the way she likes it -- no sauce and no feta cheese. But when they got the food home, it was dressed with both, Phinney said.
So Phinney called Goomba's on Belle Terre Parkway to have the order replaced but was told the grills were shut down for the night and the order couldn't be replaced until the next day. He asked for a refund instead.
Phinney, 44, and Capie, 35, went to the restaurant to get the refund and were standing outside talking with a manager there when Milano pulled up. Milano invited the men into the restaurant to discuss their issue at the counter.
"The next thing we know, we heard a gun pop," Phinney said.
It was the sound of a 9mm pistol hitting his skull.
When deputies arrived at Goomba's that night, Milano and his girlfriend, Kristy Leal, 32, told an elaborate story that had Phinney punching Milano and pulling him over the countertop at the restaurant, the report states. While the pair were tussling, Leal claimed Capie punched her in the eye and stole from her a gun she'd pulled from her purse to stop the fight.
They claimed all surveillance in the business had been turned off for the night.
Deputies later learned the surveillance system was on and viewed the silent footage.
What they saw on the tape was Capie and Phinney "standing calmly at the counter" with Milano on the other side speaking with "animated body language," the report states.
Then Milano suddenly hit Phinney in the head with a gun he'd pulled from behind the counter, the report states. The gun fell as Milano jumped over the counter and began assaulting both Capie and Phinney, the report said.
Capie eventually grabbed the gun so it couldn't be used against him and his roommate and both immediately left, the report states. Milano later retracted his initial story and admitted to the behavior that was caught on tape, the report states.
Milano did not return a phone call from The News-Journal.
Phinney was treated at Florida Hospital Flagler for his injuries. Milano was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and released the next day after posting $40,000 bail. And Leal was charged with filing a false police report.
Ping
Everyone knows that you don’t go into an Italian restaurant and complain about the food. Eat your slop, pay for it, leave...nobody gets hurt.
Obviously Fauxtalian chains like Olive Garden don’t count.
10 years for aggravated assault, 2 more for lying his ass off to police (and only retracting once they had him dead to rights, making the retraction morally worthless).
Hmmmm..., maybe there will be new ownership of the restaurant... LOL...
[after the court case, that is... :-) ... ]
How many years for bad calzone?
Especially if its named Goombas.
(Waiting for the Kramer clips to start popping up...)
Leave the gun...take the cannolis
I think Milano would have been better off to have given the refund.
It seriously sounds like the guy was on the juice big time.
I’d like to see a picture of him to confirm that.
None, but now that you mention it, one more year for criminal stupidity (in assaulting someone standing smack dab where you KNOW you have your security cameras pointed).
NO CALZONE FOR YOU!!!!!!!
But they insulted his Mama’s calzone?
PALM COAST -- Everybody's had a restaurant get their food order wrong a time or two.
Like most people, Richard Phinney figured the mistake would be corrected and his takeout calzone replaced when he called to complain. But instead of a new calzone, Phinney got a trip to the emergency room and a bloodied head after the owner of Goomba's pizzeria pistol-whipped and beat him, according to a Flagler County sheriff's report.
"I don't even want to go out to a fast food place now because I don't know what to expect," Phinney said in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Goomba's Pizzeria owner Joseph Milano, 40, "seemed really nice" when he invited Phinney and his roommate Richard Capie into the restaurant on Friday night , Phinney said. Phinney and Capie were having a cookout at their Palm Coast home that night but Capie's 11-year-old daughter didn't like what was on the menu. So the pair ordered her a calzone, just the way she likes it -- no sauce and no feta cheese.
But when they got the food home, it was dressed with both, Phinney said.
So Phinney called Goomba's on Belle Terre Parkway to have the order replaced but was told the grills were shut down for the night and the order couldn't be replaced until the next day. He asked for a refund instead.
Phinney, 44, and Capie, 35, went to the restaurant to get the refund and were standing outside talking with a manager there when Milano pulled up. Milano invited the men into the restaurant to discuss their issue at the counter.
"The next thing we know, we heard a gun pop," Phinney said.
It was the sound of a 9mm pistol hitting his skull.
When deputies arrived at Goomba's that night, Milano and his girlfriend, Kristy Leal, 32, told an elaborate story that had Phinney punching Milano and pulling him over the countertop at the restaurant, the report states. While the pair were tussling, Leal claimed Capie punched her in the eye and stole from her a gun she'd pulled from her purse to stop the fight.
They claimed all surveillance in the business had been turned off for the night.
Deputies later learned the surveillance system was on and viewed the silent footage.
What they saw on the tape was Capie and Phinney "standing calmly at the counter" with Milano on the other side speaking with "animated body language," the report states.
Then Milano suddenly hit Phinney in the head with a gun he'd pulled from behind the counter, the report states. The gun fell as Milano jumped over the counter and began assaulting both Capie and Phinney, the report said.
Capie eventually grabbed the gun so it couldn't be used against him and his roommate and both immediately left, the report states. Milano later retracted his initial story and admitted to the behavior that was caught on tape, the report states.
Milano did not return a phone call from The News-Journal.
Phinney was treated at Florida Hospital Flagler for his injuries. Milano was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and released the next day after posting $40,000 bail. And Leal was charged with filing a false police report.
http://www.flagleronline.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17805&PN=1
Never mess with a Goomba!
I've never heard of Calzone before. Anyway, here's what it looks like.
I guess the place has it's mob bonafides
These are more like it...
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