Authorities in California are searching for a young couple accused of leaving a Redondo Beach restaurant without paying their bill after eating. The suspects then ran over the manager when he came out to collect his payment.
Surveillance footage shows the manager being lifted onto the car’s hood and swept across the parking lot before falling off as the suspects turn onto a busy road and flee. The incident occurred on Monday in broad daylight at about 1 p.m.
According to Lisa Hodges, Ragin Cajun Café’s co-owner, the manager suffered no broken bones or head injuries.
Speaking to Fox News Digital on Thursday afternoon, Hodges said the suspect hit the manager hard enough to carry him the whole distance of 30 feet to the street, noting that the manager could have been thrown into traffic.
The suspect entered the restaurant with an apparent look as though they may have been under the influence of something, Hodges said – clarifying, “that’s just a guess.” She added that the couple stayed for 15 minutes and didn’t drink much.
They asked if they could eat on the empty patio, and the manager jokingly told them that they would have to wait for over an hour.
After that, Hodges said the suspects ordered plenty of food, including steak and lobster – and didn’t finish eating it. When they couldn’t finish their meal, the couple asked for their $90 check and takeout boxes and left the unpaid bill on the table.
The manager then saw them in the parking lot and found they were leaving without paying. He jumped over and stood in front of their car just to ask them to pay their bill, Hodges said.
The male driver allegedly told the manager to come and collect the money by the driver’s side window.
“But he (the manager) didn’t want to move, because I guess instinctually you realize they’re probably just going to take off,” Hodges told Fox News.
Video shows the driver plowed into the manager instead.
After reviewing the surveillance cameras, Hodges said the suspects could have reversed and driven around the manager. However, they chose to just hit the gas and drive through him.
Hodges said the manager is recovering resumed work on Wednesday.
Hodges described the suspects, who remain at large, as a Black male and a White female driving a maroon sedan that may have been a Ford or Chrysler from the 1980s or ‘90s. The license plate began with 7W2 or 2W7, she said. She said the couple, who appeared to be in their 20s, was wearing masks in front of the surveillance cameras inside her restaurant.
