Watch: Man runs away after throwing cheesesteak on Philadelphia restaurant manager’s face, turns himself in later; video goes viral

A man has been charged with harassment after he threw a sandwich into the face of the general manager at an iconic cheesesteak restaurant in Philadelphia. The accused, who was apparently a food influencer, turned himself in after the incident, the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) said on Friday, October 2, 2026, according to multiple news outlets.

The incident occurred at Pat’s King of Steaks earlier this week, and the influencer has been charged with a summary harassment offense, per NBC Philadelphia, CBS Philadelphia, and PhillyVoice. Police have not released the name of the suspect.

The development comes after Pat’s King of Steaks, the “originators of the Philly steak & cheesesteak," said that it would pay $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and charges related to the incident. Authorities told PEOPLE that officers responded to the restaurant following a report of an assault at around 5:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.


“According to the investigation, an unknown male allegedly threw a cheesesteak at an employee’s face before fleeing the location,” police said, as quoted by the news outlet. They further stated that no injuries were reported.

Sandwich incident caught on camera

The incident was captured on a security camera, and the footage was released by multiple news outlets, including 6 ABC, CBS News, and NBC Philadelphia. In the footage, the suspect was seen filming his experience with Pat’s King of Steaks before throwing the sandwich at an employee. He was identified as restaurant general manager Tom Francano.

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Francano breaks silence

Speaking to news outlets, Francano said that the customer was recording when he arrived at the restaurant to order a cheesesteak. Meanwhile, owner Frank Olivieri claimed that the security camera footage showed the customer tearing apart the sandwich using his hand before approaching the service window for a second time.

The suspect seemed like an influencer “trying to make a little name for himself,” and the man walked around the business and took photos and videos with a cell phone on a selfie stick, Francano told NBC. “I knew exactly what he was doing,” he said.


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The suspect came back with the opened cheesesteak, allegedly telling Francano, “This steak’s garbage," and threw the food in his face and fled the scene. “The guy picked the sandwich up, threw it in his face, and ran off. The coward,” Olivieri told CBS.

Francano told NBC that he was unharmed by the cheesesteak in the attack. “I’m not hurt; I’m fine,” he said. He also noted that this was the first time when he witnessed something of this sort happen to him.