ST. LOUIS (AP) - Prosecutors said a St. Louis Pizza Hut worker acted in self-defense when he stabbed a customer who had threatened him with a knife during a confrontation about an order.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office spokeswoman Allison Hawk told the Associated Press on Friday the customer showed up at the restaurant Monday angry and ready to fight. Hawk said the man got the workers to go outside, where he drew a knife and told them he also had a gun.
Hawk said one of the workers then stabbed the customer several times with a kitchen knife. Police said Friday the man is expected to survive.
Police referred first-degree assault charges to the prosecutor's office for review. But Hawk said prosecutors determined the stabbing was a case of self-defense and decided not to file charges.
The victim was identified by family members as Isiah Hudson Sr. His wife, Teneisha Cruz, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday the conversation turned combative when Hudson called about the incorrect order. Hudson, Cruz and their three children went to the store, and Cruz said at least two employees wanted to fight Hudson.
"You just don't do that," she said, "You work for Pizza Hut."
Pizza Hut said in a statement the franchisee was cooperating with law enforcement.