Overview
- A confrontation at a Northridge Wendy's turned violent when a customer produced a roughly 3-inch pocket knife and chairs were swung and thrown, according to video and witnesses.
- The encounter, which took place Tuesday, was captured on several phones and circulated widely online, prompting rapid media attention.
- The Los Angeles Police Department detained and booked 46-year-old Kyle Manfre on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, confiscated the pocket knife, and the other man was treated for minor lacerations.
- Manfre posted $30,000 bail and says he only brandished the knife in self-defense and did not use it, while witnesses say a man in a baseball cap had been harassing employees; prosecutors have not yet filed formal charges and a Nov. 17 court hearing is scheduled.
- The case underscores how bystander video and competing accounts can escalate a restaurant dispute into the criminal-justice process and leave the final legal outcome to prosecutors and the courts.