Saturday, May 19, 2007

One Mother of a Fight

An Ohio family celebrated Mother's Day with a public brawl that resulted in multiple arrests and injuries. About 10 police units responded to the melee at the Golden Corral restaurant last Sunday, and found an estimated 15 people involved in a fight inside the restaurant. Five people were arrested and six people were hurt, including four who were taken to hospitals for minor injuries.

The incident started shortly before 3:30 p.m. in the crowded, buffet-style restaurant in Toledo. According to police, 56-year-old Christine Lewandowski repeatedly asked 24-year-old mom Sylvia Harris to quiet her 1-year-old child, who was sitting in a high chair and screaming. When the infant continued to scream, Ms. Lewandowski shouted at the baby to “shut up.”

That’s when Ms. Harris lunged at Ms. Lewandowski and began punching the woman, the sergeant said. Other people quickly joined in the fight. “It was a big exchange,” Sergeant Kikolski said. “It seemed like everyone wanted to get their licks in, or it could have possibly been they were trying to break up the fight.” Chairs and tables were thrown as the fight participants quickly grew out of control and restaurant managers called police.

The restaurant was eventually shut down for nearly two hours, and about 100 customers were forced to leave, police said. Customers left the restaurant with take-out boxes as they briskly walked to their vehicles, some shaking their heads in disbelief about the "Mother’s Day Massacre". Tony Puckett, the general manager at Golden Corral, declined to comment on the incident.

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