A Pittsburgh pizza shop manager has been caught on film slamming a black woman’s head repeatedly into the ground after she showed up at his restaurant asking to use the bathroom.
Mahmut Yilmaz, 41, was filmed struggling with Jade Smith, 34, at Pizza Mario in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday night at around 7.30pm.Smith had been drinking with a friend in a bar next door and went to Pizza Mario after missing her bus to get home.
She asked if she could use the restroom but ignored Yilmaz when he told her no and attempted to push past him.
Yilmaz was then filmed slamming her back into the wall. The pair then fell to the floor, crashing into a table and chairs on their way.
He then appeared to repeatedly hit the woman’s head off the ground, yelling: ‘Why you not listen to me!’ as he held her in a tight grip.
After a few seconds, several other pizza shop employees rushed over to break the pair up and escort Smith outside.
Police were called and interviewed them both at the scene but neither told them about the fight, according to The Post Gazette.
Police were called and interviewed them both at the scene but neither told them about the fight, according to The Post Gazette.
Officers said Smith appeared ‘disheveled’ but had no obvious injuries.
However, they were called to hospital later that night to interview her. She said that in the hours since the incident, she had developed a strong headache.
Smith told them she had been diagnosed with a concussion and that she did not mention the fight because she could not remember it clearly.
Footage of the incident swept social media, gaining more than 900,000 views by Tuesday morning on one Facebook account where it was posted.
Footage of the incident swept social media, gaining more than 900,000 views by Tuesday morning on one Facebook account where it was posted.
After it spread, Yilmaz turned himself into police and was arrested on aggravated assault and assault charges. His bail was set at $5,000.
During police interviews, he told officers he did not mean to hit Smith’s head against the floor and that he was trying to get her to pay attention to him when he began shaking her.
Smith will be arrested via summons for defiant trespass and disorderly conduct, according to police records.
The incident sparked protests in Pittsburgh. On Monday, scores of angry local people descended on the pizza shop to demand that it be shut down.
They claimed the attack was racially charged and that Smith was discriminated against for being a woman.
