Kids were being ‘loud’ at this Florida steakhouse. A diner pulled out a fork, cops say
A disturbing incident occurred at a restaurant in Southwest Florida on Wednesday.
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a man was arrested after he allegedly threatened a fellow diner with an eating utensil at a restaurant in an Estero mall.
According to an arrest affidavit, a family was finishing up dinner at the Wasabi Steakhouse around 6 p.m. in the Miromar Outlets when their two young daughters became “disruptive and loud.”
Seated at the next table, the suspect, later identified as Joseph Vadder, became agitated by the noise and told the father to “shut his kids up.”
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The victim told cops that he said that he and his wife “were trying their best to keep them calm,” but the situation escalated.
“The offender picked up a fork, looked at the victim, and threatened to use the fork to stab him in the throat,” reads the police report. “The complainant then got his family to leave and said the offender got inches from his face and continued to be belligerent.”
After the family soon exited the establishment Vadder, 49, followed. Security video, provided by the restaurant to NBC2, shows him right behind the group as they leave.
Outside in the parking lot, the argument continued, with Vadder smashing the victim’s car window, says the police report.
Deputies responded to the scene, but the suspect had already left. They tracked him down a short while later and arrested him on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and property damage.
He was released on $6,500 bond.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 2:31 PM.
