Suspect in Pat’s cheesesteak-throwing incident has turned himself in, reports say
The customer was apparently filming the interaction as a social media stunt.
A suspect in the cheesesteak-throwing incident at Pat’s King of Steaks has turned himself in to police, according to reports by Fox29 and 6abc.
Charges were pending Thursday night. Police had not identified the suspect.
Earlier Thursday, Pat’s owner Frank Olivieri offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the camera-carrying man who hurled a cheesesteak through the South Philadelphia restaurant’s service window Wednesday afternoon, striking general manager Tom Francano.
Olivieri said he hoped to stop the apparent stunt from becoming the next social-media trend.
The incident occurred shortly before 5 p.m., after the customer ordered a cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and onions. Olivieri said he believed that the man had paid in cash, so he could not identify him through receipts.
Olivieri said surveillance footage convinced him that the encounter had been planned. Video shows the customer sitting at a table, pulling apart the sandwich with his hands without eating it. The man later approached the window, exchanged words with Francano, threw the cheesesteak at him, and ran down the street.
Francano can be seen throwing pieces of the sandwich back toward the fleeing man. He did not report injuries, police said. Detectives initially investigated the incident as an assault.
“His intention was to make a video: get the sandwich, have an argument at the window, film the entire thing, throw the sandwich through the window, and run away,” Olivieri said. “That’s how he gets clicks.”
Francano noticed the man’s camera and took particular care while preparing his order, Olivieri said.
“Everybody here knows that when somebody comes up with a camera, you make sure the sandwich is extra perfect, so there is absolutely nothing they can say is wrong with it,” he said.
Customers occasionally have thrown drinks, food, or other objects through the restaurant’s window during its 96-year history, Olivieri said. In one incident around 2024, he said, a customer threw a handful of coins at employees. But Wednesday’s encounter was different: The man arrived with a camera and apparently recorded his actions.
“It’s one thing if somebody comes to the window, gets into an argument, and throws a soda or some french fries,” Olivieri said. “But nobody has ever intentionally come with a camera and thrown a cheesesteak through the window.”
Olivieri said he wanted consequences for the man because a video of the episode could encourage others to stage similar confrontations at Pat’s or other restaurants.
“If this guy posts the video — or when he posts it — other people are going to come and do it,” Olivieri said. “They’ll be throwing cheesesteaks through the window at my place and everybody else’s place. I feel as though we need to make an example of this person. Nobody should get away with doing something like this.”
Staff writer Henry Savage contributed to this article.
