Fight at Toronto Chinatown restaurant Pho Xe Lua goes viral
By Jenny Yuen, Toronto Sun
First posted: Monday, October 29, 2012 10:11 AM EDT
Toronto Police are looking for a plate-slinging patron from a brawl that erupted in a Chinatown restaurant early Saturday.
The fight broke out around 3:30 a.m. between two groups of people at Pho Xe Lua Restaurant, a Vietnamese noodle house on Spadina Ave., south of Dundas St. W.
The brawl was captured by several dozen cellphone cameras and the video uploaded to YouTube has gone viral. In the video, a man wearing a green shirt is seen throwing a menu. The fight then escalates to where another man is shown throwing what appears to be a plate, which hits a woman in the head.
“The victim was there and a physical altercation occurred between two other women in the restaurant,” Const. Wendy Drummond said Monday. “It’s not as common (for fights to break out) in restaurants than we see in the Entertainment District.”
In the video, two women begin punching each other while an employee in a red shirt attempts to break up the fight. In the 30-second mark of the 11-and-a-half-minute clip, a man wearing a black ‘SWAT’ costume vest joins the brawl, allegedly throwing a metal napkin holder. He and his group eventually leave.
Several dozen customers, some in Halloween costumes, watch as the fight happens.
The profanity-laden video had more than 289,000 page views by Monday evening.
“It’s a help,” Drummond said, referring to the YouTube posts. “It is put on public platform displays, which could potentially jeopardize some statements and witness accounts because they’ve already seen what happened. It’s good, however, in some situations it hinders investigations.”
The woman in her 20s who was hit with the object suffered bruises and cuts, but not broken bones, Drummond said.
Police are looking for a man, 20-25 years old, about 5-foot-8, with a muscular build and multicoloured tattoos on his left biceps.
He is clean-shaven with short black hair that has been shaved on both sides. He was wearing a ‘SWAT’ costume vest with holster during the incident.
Alex Tu, the manager of Pho Xe Lua, said he was working the night of the incident and was surprised a fight broke out.
“We tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t, so I called 911 right away,” Tu recalled. “Then the guys left. Around Friday or Saturday night, a lot of people come in. (The worker in the video) is OK, she tried to stop them.”
YouTube viewers weighed in on the footage.
“It started out as an (argument) about space,” SaldatCrinale wrote on the site. “One of guys bumped in to another guy. Than a remark was said and then you see the menu flying. Than two girls argue and fight and it escalates from there. This all happened around 3 a.m. in the morning so they are all probably drunk and belligerent.”
Other commenters slammed witnesses who opted to film the fight rather than help stop it.
“Those who are egging the fight on (assuming the person who filmed this) is disgusting and should be ashamed of himself,” one person wrote. “No humour in violence, hitting women and vandalizing/destroying property.”
Anyone with information, video or still images of the fight is asked to call police at 416-808-1400 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.
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Viral Toronto Chinatown fight videos aid in arrest
By Jenny Yuen, Toronto Sun
First posted: Friday, November 02, 2012 07:59 PM EDT
Toronto Police have arrested a man believed to be the plate-slinging patron during a brawl at a Chinatown restaurant last Saturday.
A fight broke out at Pho Xe Lua Restaurant in the Dundas-Spadina area around 3:30 a.m. between two groups of people over what some patrons believe was a dispute over seating. Several cellphone videos were taken during the melee, which captured a dinner plate being smashed into the head of a woman.
“We received tips and we followed up the tips and identified a man alleged to be responsible for the assault,” said Const. Tony Vella on Friday. “We had an image of the person [using the videos], so that definitely helped.”
In the profanity-laden video, a man wearing a green shirt is seen throwing a menu. The fight then escalates to where another man is shown throwing a plate, which hits a woman in her 20s in the head.
Two women begin punching each other while an employee in a red shirt attempts to break up the fight. In the 30-second mark of the one-and-a-half-minute clip, a man wearing a black ‘SWAT’ costume vest joins the brawl, allegedly throwing a metal napkin holder. He and his group eventually leave.
The cellphone videos were uploaded to YouTube went viral and some have garnered over 568,000 views to date.
Aenoy Vilaysane, 28, of Burlington, is charged with assault with a weapon and weapons dangerous.
He appeared in Old City Hall court on Friday morning.
