Maskless man flips out inside Jamaica IHOP after employees ask him to leave

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A angry customer cut an employee after getting kicked out of an IHOP on Hillside Avenue Tuesday. Photo via Google Maps

A angry customer cut an employee after getting kicked out of an IHOP on Hillside Avenue Tuesday. Photo via Google Maps

By David Brand

A maskless customer pulled a knife and slashed a woman inside a Jamaica Hills IHOP Tuesday after she and other staff members asked him to leave the restaurant, police and employees said.

Surveillance footage shows the unidentified man sitting near the counter of the IHOP at 170-19 Hillside Avenue without a face covering, in violation of COVID-19 safety rules. After he refused to put on a mask, the restaurant’s acting general manager asked him to step outside so she could take his order there, said employee Jarryd Smith.

“The acting general manager politely asked him to leave. She said, ‘You have to wear a mask, you can’t be here without mask. The only way I can take your order is if you step outside and we can do it like that,” Smith said.

But those instructions set the man off, Smith said. He began yelling and threatening workers so Smith, the IHOP’s second-in-command, said he left the kitchen and see what the problem was.

“He kept threatening to shoot up the store,” Smith said. “He said, “F—- y’all, I’ll shoot this s—- up."‘“

When an employee called 911, the man left the restaurant with two other people. Staff barricaded the door with a table, but the man returned moments later and busted back into the IHOP, Smith said.

Surveillance footage released by police show the suspect pull a knife from his sweatpants and stalk employees while slashing at them with the blade. 

Smith said the man was trying to cut him but missed and sliced the acting general manager near her left elbow. Police said she received seven stitches at a nearby hospital.

Smith said she was doing OK and recovering at home. 

He declined to take credit for defending his colleagues against the enraged customer. 

“You’re not going to disrespect my boss,” he said. 

The attacker left the IHOP and fled on Hillside Avenue. Police have not yet identified the suspect.