Man Allegedly Beats Restaurant Owner Over Dinner Bill
UPDATED 03/23/11 1:49 p.m.
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) - A 40-year-old southwest suburban man is free on bond after allegedly beating a restaurant owner because he didn't like the bill.
As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, Donovan Lee Campbell, of the 11100 block of McGovney Street in Tinley Park, had been having dinner this past Friday with his ex-wife in their 8-year-old son at Outriggers Fish House, at 15917 Harlem Ave.
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Among their orders was the Outrigger platter, for $64.99.
But when the bill for $150 came, Campbell reportedly came angry.
When the waitress returned with Campbell's credit card, he demanded to speak with a manager, according to police.
The scene soon took an ugly turn, said Jeanni Marie Dillon, another waitress working that night.
"I used to own a restaurant in Racine (Wis.), and I've worked in restaurants for years but I've never, ever seen anything like this," Dillon, 40, of Joliet, said. "All my tables were disgusted by it. And there was their kid, walking around the restaurant. How pathetic."
While he was being led to the door, Campbell "sucker punched" owner Dimitrios Mikroulis, 55, knocking him to the floor, Dillon said. She said Campbell and his ex-wife "were causing quite a scene" in the restaurant before the fight erupted.
A waiter told police that Campbell was choking Mikroulis and knocked his legs out from beneath him, driving Mikroulis to the floor. When police arrived, they found two male employees trying to subdue Campbell on the vestibule floor.
Mikroulis complained of chest pain and was taken to Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights and transferred to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said.
They said Campbell's ex-wife, of Crown Point, Ind., and their son were taken to the police station to arrange safe transport home because police deemed her too intoxicated to drive.
On Tuesday, Mikroulis declined to comment on the fight.
"I can't talk. I'm in too much pain," he said.
Contacted Tuesday by a reporter, Campbell also declined to comment.
He posted $100 bail and is due in court in Bridgeview on April 27, police said.
The Joliet Herald-News contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire
