WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—Police were called to Panera Bread on Chestnut Ridge Road Feb. 15 at 9:30 p.m. to address a verbal dispute in progress between two employees following what had turned out to be a physical assault at the work site.
According to the police report, which followed an investigation including eyewitness accounts, statements from the two men involved, and a viewing of video surveillance, the primary aggressor in the situation was a Nanuet man, 28, who said his antagonist, a Prospect Park man, 22, had been giving him dirty looks and threatening his life.
He said that he had had enough and began pushing the second man. After a scuffle, he assaulted him with a cooking pan.
The Nanuet man, who had abrasions, told police he was schizophrenic and bipolar and had stopped taking his medication in 2015. He said he needed to talk to his doctor about getting more medication. Police sent for an ambulance to take him to New Bridge Medical Center.
The Prospect Park man, who sustained a bump to his head, a bloody nose, cuts to his arm and hands, and a large bite on his chest, said he does not want to press charges. Photo evidence was sent to detectives.
The general manager said the Nanuet man is not allowed back on the premises. She said she would call police should he return.
On Feb. 16 the Nanuet man responded to police headquarters for an additional interview. He corroborated the facts of the assault. He was then charged with aggravated assault, returnable to Hackensack Superior Court on March 11.
Police contacted detectives in Clarkstown and asked whether the defendant or his parents own any firearms. No one at the address he lives at owns any legally registered firearms, the detectives said.
The investigation is closed.