A man suffered minor knife injuries to his hand during a scuffle in a suburban Starbucks Sunday after a fellow customer told him to “stop being a jerk to the staff,” police said.
The brawl broke out about 2:30 p.m. in the 100 block of South Euclid Avenue when a 26-year-old California man was “verbally abusing the shop staff regarding an order he had placed,” police said.
A 28-year-old man from Glenview told the man to stop berating the staff and an argument insued, police said. The California man punched and slapped the Glenview man, police said. The Glenview man then pulled out a pocket knife and opened it, police said, and the other man grabbed the blade which caused minor injuries to his hand, police said.
The Glenview man claims he was trying to pull his cellphone out, not the knife, police said.
"Whether he attempted to pull out his phone to call police or if he pulled out the knife intentionally, we're not sure," Deputy Police Chief Duane Mellema told the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate. "But the knife gets pulled out in the midst of the wrestling match/struggle and gets opened. The California man ends up grabbing the knife by the blade, cutting his hand."
Mellema added that no witness report or statement indicates the man was trying to stab anyone.
The fight was broken up by a Cook County Sheriff who was flagged down by bystanders, according to police.
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“We were disturbed to hear about the incident and are grateful our partners (employees) acted quickly and called 9-1-1 once they saw the altercation taking place between the customers,” a spokesman for Starbucks sad in a statement. “No partners or other customers were injured. The safety of our partners (employees) and customers has always been, and will continue to be, our top priority.”
Both men were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Neither man chose to pursue battery charges, police said.
