- A brawl involving 40 people broke out at a Golden Corral in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, on Friday.
- One eyewitness said it started when he got his steak before the person in front of him in line.
- Police are investigating the incident and have not made any arrests at the time of writing.
Local police in a Pennsylvania town are investigating a 40-person brawl that broke out at a Golden Corral on Friday. The incident may have started with a disagreement over a steak.
Sergeant Glenn Vandegrift of the Bensalem Township Police Department confirmed to Insider that they are investigating the cause of the fight and are attempting to identify any of the individuals involved. The department had not made any arrests yet, he said.
According to CBS 3 Philly, the individual who started the fight “could face several charges including simple assault.”
“Thankfully, there were no serious injuries resulting from the fight that we are aware of. Only a few, minor injuries were sustained,” Vandegrift told Insider, adding that the restaurant has cooperated throughout the investigation.
Representatives for Golden Corral or JK Hospitality, which franchises the Bensalem Golden Corral location, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment. However, JK Hospitality addressed the incident in a statement provided to CBS 3 Philly, saying that the company had notified authorities and that “the safety of our guests and co-workers is our top priority.”
Video footage shared on social media and local news outlets that purportedly depicts the altercation shows diners throwing chairs and tables, and fighting inside the restaurant.
As Today reports, Gaven Lauletta, a resident of Bensalem, shared a four-minute-long video on Facebook, in which someone can be heard saying “all I wanted was a steak.”
Lauletta told Insider that he was not at the restaurant himself at the time of the incident, and that he posted the video after a friend who he said was a former employee at the Golden Corral shared it with him.
The Bensalem resident told CBS 3 Philly that he had heard “there was a shortage of steak and two parties were involved.”
“One family cut in front of another family, they were taking their time and they ran out of steak and it got into a heated exchange at the tables,” he added.
However, eyewitness Alexis Rios told local Philadelphia news station 6 ABC on Tuesday that the brawl began when a diner in front of him in line became angry with the cook because they had ordered a well-done steak before Rios, but Rios received his rare steak first.
“I had a rare steak, which is a lot faster to cook than a well-done steak,” he told the news station. “That’s why I got my steak first.”
“I grab a chair to defend myself,” Rios told the same outlet, adding that soon after “punches were getting thrown” and “chairs were getting thrown.”
Rios said that as a result of the altercation he had a bruise on his nose, and that his brother who was with him had a black eye and lifted nail.
He added that he believes the situation that led to the brawl was exacerbated by people being unable to fully understand each other through face masks due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Insider could not reach Rios for comment.