Employee Filed Police Complaint After ‘Physical Altercation’ Likely Related to Spit Video
A viral video depicting an employee of a Pita Pit in Missoula spitting into the food of customers and throwing it at them, appears to be tied to a complaint filed with Missoula Police the same day the video was put on Facebook. Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh couldn’t confirm a link to the video, but was able to describe the essence of the complaint. Interestingly, the complaint was filed by a store employee.
"On Saturday morning, very early, just after 2:00 a.m. we received a complaint from an adult female who was working at a downtown business at the time who stated that she had been assaulted by other females that had come into the business," Welsh said. "It sounds like there was an argument followed by a brief physical altercation behind the counter of the business. It sounds like there may have been some concern of soft tissue injury, but nothing that was severe or, in fact, life threatening."
The expletive laced video originally shared on Facebook by a ShaeLynn MadPlume shows an argument over whether or not the business was closed. According to Welsh, the criminal complaint on file says the argument was over “the fact that these customers were ordering at that time of night.”
Both incidents appear to have happened during the exact same time and could very well be the same event, but because police are not releasing names at this point it is also possible a similar event happened at another Missoula business.
The actual video loaded to Facebook can be seen below, NOT SAFE FOR WORK WARNING due to frequent use of expletives.
The owners of the Pita Pit say there is "no excuse" for what happened in the video and sent the customers the following apology via Facebook.
We are shocked and saddened by the early morning incident that took place in our restaurant. We have been unable to reach out on Messenger and apologize personally to the guest who posted about it. We would like to publicly do so now.
Dear ShaeLynn:
My name is Nancy. My husband and I have owned Pita Pit Missoula for over 14 years. I have seen your Facebook post and I am mortified that this happened to you and your friends in our establishment.
I don’t know what happened before or after this video was taken but please don’t listen to those who speculate. I can see what happened during the video and there is no excuse whatsoever for the type of behavior shown by an employee that I can assure you is no longer working for us.
This is an owner run store. We work here forty plus hours per week, but we are not in during all hours of operation. This employee’s behavior does not represent who we are as a family or a business. It also does not represent the Missoula community. As a business we are community involved and support many local organizations. We are youth and civic leaders who have been on the front lines fighting for social change and equality for over a decade.
I wish there was an opportunity for you to come to us before this happened, but you do not know us. Please feel free to messenger with contact info so we can speak directly. You were wronged. I know from experience that sometimes all a person feels they can do to stop unjust behaviors is shine the light on them when they occur. Shining that light can propel change. We are reviewing our policies to see what more we can do. The fact remains that employee violated policies that are already in place.
If my husband and I could take back what happened, we would. That is not possible. In this moment of shock and heaviness, we want to offer you, your friends, and the Missoula community our sincerest apology.