83-year-old customer grazed by bullet at Quaker Steak & Lube stays to eat dinner
COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WXIX) - An 83-year-old customer inside a Greater Cincinnati restaurant was grazed by a bullet over the weekend but still stayed to eat dinner, the manager tells FOX19 NOW.
It happened Sunday night at Quaker Steak & Lube at the Stone Creek Towne Center off eastbound Interstate 275 in Colerain Township, according to Jim Love, a police spokesman.
Police arrested Benjamin Hardwick, 23, of Fairfield on a felonious assault charge. His bond was set at $5,000 in a brief hearing Monday.
What happened at the Quaker Steak & Lube in Colerain Township?
Hardwick is accused of firing a .357 “revolver in a bathroom, striking the victim that was sitting in a booth outside of the bathroom,” according to the criminal complaint.
The court document also says Hardwick “did knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm to the 83-year-old man listed on the police report as the “victim.”
The police spokesman says the bullet grazed the customer in the booth, causing a minor injury. The man didn’t go to the hospital.
The incident remains under investigation.
Officers recovered multiple items of evidence, the police report shows, including a Ruger GP-100 .357 magnum with five rounds and one spent .357 magnum casing; a Glock 43X gun and two, 15-round magazines full; seven pocket knives, a pen with a window breaker and six .357 magnum rounds.
Quaker Steak & Lube manager: 'It was the craziest thing'
The manager at Quaker Steak & Lube, Jacob Greer, tells FOX19 NOW the shooting happened so fast, he didn’t get a good look at the suspect but didn’t know him and couldn’t even say if he was a customer.
“It was the craziest thing and people who have been here for years also say the same thing,” explained Greer.
Greer said the customer who was struck by the bullet was seated in a booth with his daughter.
Their server had just greeted them, walked away, and planned to return for their order when the gun fired, he recalled.
After the customer was grazed by the bullet, he was sitting and talking to the paramedics when he began to look for his server, the manager said.
“He said ‘Can I order some food?’” Greer recalled. “We told him you can have the whole restaurant at this point. Whatever you want it’s on us. He ordered some tenders with pretzels and coleslaw. His daughter was with him. They got some chocolate milkshakes on the house.”
The manager said he was relieved and happy they decided to stay and eat.
“I thought it was very neat. He and his daughter were on a trip. They were from Indiana. I hope they come back even though the experience probably wasn’t up to par 100%.”
This report was provided by Enquirer media partner FOX19.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 83-year-old customer grazed by bullet at restaurant stays to eat
