It was a hot weekend in Northern Colorado, and maybe that’s what lead to a Smashburger customer Loveland to lose his cool, tables getting smashed, and five police cars showing up!

Smashburger
Dave Jensen, TSM
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A friend of mine’s son, Trevin, works at Smashburger in Loveland; so I was able to get the story right from the manager who had to break things up on Saturday afternoon (July 9, 2016).   The story goes like this:

At around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 9 2016, a 17-year-old male had just used the men’s room at Smashburger at Denver Avenue and Eisenhower Boulevard. A man went into the restroom right after the juvenile. Then, he came storming right out. He was very angry at the young man’s [lack of aim], and how he’d left the restroom in such a state. The man approached the youth, yelling at him. The youth turned around, and was hit in the face by the angry man! The youth retaliated by punching that man several times in HIS face. By this time, the youth’s father jumped up and went over to break it up. The angry man then got in a fight with the father!

It’s at this point, with the sound of all the chaos, that the ‘front of the house’ manager at the time, Trevin (3 hours into his newly appointed position), came running over. Trevin found the angry man holding the youth’s father around the neck in a choke-hold. The angry man was also still fighting with the youth, with his left hand! Trevin, jumped on the angry man, putting him in the same hold that the man had on the father.  The man was yelling, ‘Let go of me!’ Trevin replied, ‘I’ll let go of YOU when you let go of HIM!’  The youth’s mother also got involved by pounding on Trevin! Chaos! The three of them ended up careening to the floor, knocking over and breaking a table in the process.

Meanwhile, Smashburger staffers had called the police. Loveland’s police station is not far from Smashburger; that, coupled with all the hostility across the nation that past week, may have been why a LOT of police showed up. Five police cars arrived with 6 total police officers, along with an EMT!  They arrived just as things were settling down inside the restaurant, as Trevin had ushered all of the combatants outside. No one needed medical attention. The angry man was taken, however, to the police station on potential charges of ‘assaulting a youth’.

Customers inside the store congratulated Trevin on his quick action, and thanked him for their ‘Free Burger’ coupons that they were given for having had their meals disrupted. An older woman approached Trevin and told him that as a manager, this would probably be the most exciting day he’ll ever see!

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