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Houston restaurant owner accused of assaulting five customers
FOX 26 Reporter Tiffany Justice explains what happened and what's next.
HOUSTON - A Houston restaurant owner is being accused of calling a group of customers racial slurs and getting into a physical altercation with them.
Both parties spoke with FOX 26 on Wednesday, the day after the fight was caught on camera.
The disagreement about gratuity quickly escalated into a physical altercation inside the restaurant, Wolfies, in northwest Houston.
Quanell X, a local community activist, is now representing the women who claim they were called racial slurs and were told they were broke.
"He made racial slurs. He called us Black b*, he called us broke. He made racial slurs," said Jasmine Scott, a customer at the restaurant.
"I can't recall a single word that was racially biased, not from them, and certainly not from me," said Scott Weir, the owner of Wolfies.
Quanell X said the gratuity being charged was 30%, but the owner says it is 18% for large parties and is posted for everyone to see. The party involved included 11 people; six adults and five children.
"When it came time to pay the bill, they disagreed," said Quanell X. "The gratuity was way too high at 30% when everyone is feeling the economic pinch."
The owner says the argument escalated when one of the women voiced her thoughts that they should not pay the bill.
"The 18% gratuity is posted on the wall and menu. Another lady pops in and says we don’t have to pay a tab and there is nothing you can do about that. That’s when things went crazy," said Weir.
Video captured the argument, which spilled out into the parking lot. The owner denies any racial slurs were said. The customers said, they felt threatened.
"It was about me trying to get my $395 bill paid. So no, it wasn’t about race," said Weir.
"We were trying to create memories, this memory is horrible to the point where I’m trying to put my kid into counseling," said Scott.