Pizzeria owner knocked unconscious while breaking up fight, North Carolina video shows
Mike Scottodifrego, co-owner of Brother’s Pizzeria, was attacked and knocked unconscious in his restaurant on Dec. 5, surveillance video shows.
As a single dad and a business owner, violent interactions aren’t something he can risk, he said on the restaurant’s Facebook.
“I got (jumped) and stomped out til I was unconscious,” Scottodifrego said. “I have two boys, I’m a single dad. I don’t need this in my life.”
Scottodifrego was punched by another individual when he moved to break up a fight between two girls, he said. Police informed WGHP that the incident happened around 2:30 a.m. Dec. 5.
“There were two different patrons with tables in there and somehow an argument started and then, from the argument, a fight began, and then the business owner tried to break things up and he was assaulted,” Winston-Salem Police Sgt. Kevin Bowers told the news station.
According to Scottodifrego’s account of the incident on the pizzeria Facebook page, he was still reeling from the attack the next day and working to figure out what exactly happened. After receiving dozens of supportive comments online, he posted a photo of his face, bruised and swollen, but healing.
In the restaurant surveillance video submitted to news outlets, viewers can see Scottodifrego attempt to speak to customers walking by him toward a group of people in the back of the restaurant. The video shows one man come up behind Scottodifrego and hit him in the side of the head, causing him to fall into a booth. The same man appears to stomp on him once he has fallen down, the video shows.
Following the incident, Scottodifrego and his business partner decided to permanently close the restaurant early at night in response to violence in the pizzeria.
“I’m sorry to announce this, but due to recent incidents in the store we will no longer be open late nights,” they wrote. Now, their restaurant will begin to close at 10 p.m. except for Saturday, when it will close at midnight. It will cost them money, the pizzeria told the Winston-Salem Journal, but it’s not worth the risk.
Merchants told the outlet that officers on downtown patrol are off by midnight, leaving a scarce law enforcement presence by the time late-night venues close.
“It’s no secret that we can use more people,” Bowers, the longtime supervisor for the downtown bike patrol, told the Journal. “Every department could.”
Kira Boyd, spokesperson for the Winston-Salem Police Department, told McClatchy News that safety concerns for downtown business owners are a priority for the department.
“We encourage citizens to report any crimes they witness in our city,” Boyd said. “We will be meeting with a group of business owners soon to discuss ways we can partner to keep their patrons and our citizens safe.”
If citizens have any information about the incident, they are asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700.
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