Restaurant rage driver out on bail
Man arrested for repeatedly crashing his car into restaurant entrance in a fit of rage to appear in court again on September 20.
Patrick Kalil was released on R2 000 bail after he was arrested for allegedly intentionally battering his car against the doorway of Nikos Coalgrill Greek restaurant on Sunday afternoon.
He appeared in the KwaDukuza court on Monday and will next appear on September 20 on charges of drunken driving and reckless and/or negligent driving.
The restaurant owners also opened a case of malicious damage to property.
The incident followed an altercation when Kalil was allegedly asked to leave the restaurant.
He returned in his car and drove into the doorway, breaking through into the foyer area.
Restaurant owner Tania Tsiantos said he had arrived with a friend at around 1pm.
Tsiantos alleged that Kalil became increasingly disruptive, kicking a chair and being rude to waitstaff who told him he could not vape inside.
“We called security and he left, but he came back.”
He left again after a fight outside the restaurant.
“I was just walking up to check if there was any blood that needed to be cleaned up when I saw him coming down in his car,” said Tsiantos.
“He drove into the door, reversed out and then hit it again, breaking through on the second go.”
In video footage of the incident, Tsiantos can be seen running down the stairs as the car hits the doorway behind her.
“I ran down the stairs and just shouted ‘move!’, trying to get everyone away,” she said.
“I feared for my life, I’ve never been so scared. The whole building was shaking, it felt like an earthquake.”
In the video footage, Kalil gets out of his vehicle after which an unknown male tries to hit him but falls on the ground. A third person intervenes.
Luckily nobody was injured and Kalil was arrested by Umhlali Saps and taken for blood alcohol testing at a hospital.
Tsiantos estimated that between the damage to the door, food wastage and lost business, the whole ordeal cost the restaurant around R200 000.
The restaurant was closed on Monday while repairs were being made, but was open again on Tuesday.
Kalil declined to comment when approached by the Courier.
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