OfficerBluePittsburgh, PA – Pittsburgh Police have arrested a Milano Pizza employee who was captured on video beating a female at the restaurant (video below.)
The incident garnered national attention after a video of the attack was posted to social media on Friday.
In the video, Milano Pizza employee Mahmut Yilmaz, 41, was confronting a woman saying, “Listen, you gotta go,” trying to get her to leave the restaurant.
No details have been released about what happened before the video started or why she was being kicked out.
The woman responded, “Push me again.”
“Listen, you gotta go,” Yilmaz said again.
Then the woman walked past Yilmaz to go back into the restaurant. Yilmaz grabbed her, pushed her against a wall, and started yelling, “Please! Please! I said please.”
While Yilmaz’s grabbing of the woman initially appeared to be reasonable, the amount of force took a disturbing turn as he headbutted her, took her to the ground, and started bashing her head repeatedly into the tile floor while repeatedly screaming, “I said please!”
Other employees then ran over, separated the two, and pushed the woman outside.
Despite the altercation, the police were never called to the restaurant.
Several hours after the incident, the woman went to the hospital.
Officers were later called to the hospital to take a report, according to the Post-Gazette.
After an initial investigation, Yilmaz turned himself over to police on Saturday night and he was charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of simple assault.
Protesters gathered outside of the restaurant on Saturday and numerous officers needed to be stationed around the area to keep things under control.
Protester Anthony Hall told Melssa McCart with the Post-Gazette that the protesters are organizing to have a larger presence at the business on Monday.
“We’ll be back here with six different community organizations at least to make sure that our presence is shown down here,” he said, according to the Post Gazette. We’re going to come back in a positive state to make sure… we’re sending a symbol of Martin Luther King Day, that our presence is felt here, and they’re not allowed to divide us any further, especially when it comes to violence and when it comes to violence against women. We’re not going to stand for that.”
The video has also prompted the Mayor to release a statement on the video:
“This morning I was made aware of the deeply disturbing video from Milano’s Pizza. I have worked through the day with Pittsburgh Police leadership and charges have now been quickly brought. I want to thank the community for their assistance in the investigation, and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police for their hard work throughout the day. It is my sincere hope that these charges are another step in sending a very clear signal that Pittsburgh will not tolerate violence against women and that we will work as a community to protect all women, and notably African American women, from physical and emotional violence.” – Mayor William Peduto
UPDATE: The female was drinking at a nearby bar and missed her bus before entering the restaurant. She was yelling loudly on her phone and then asked people for money before being confronted, according to WPXI. She is being charged by the prosecutor’s office for disorderly conduct and defiant trespassing. She was not arrested, and was only given a court summons.
You can see the video of the incident below: