Hooter’s Manager Helps Take Down 'Violent' Suspect (Video)

BRANDON, FL — A Brandon Hooter’s manager is receiving thanks after stepping in to help two Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies as they struggled with a man accused of creating a ruckus in the restaurant.

According to the sheriff’s office, the incident that led to deputies calling James M. Nolte, 40, a good Samaritan began on Aug. 13. Deputies Andrew Glassman, 26, and Niki Tejada, 33, were called out to the 10023 Adamo Drive restaurant in reference to a customer that employees wanted trespassed.

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Witnesses later told deputies that Ashton Toney, 23, “became angry and threatened to kill an employee after he was told he would not be served alcohol and needed to leave the property,” an email from the sheriff’s office said.

Toney, who is 6-foot-3 and weighs 250 pounds, evidently went outside, but returned to the entry when deputies arrived. He is then accused of slapping a deputy’s hand, which prompted an arrest attempt.

Toney, however, “became very combative and violently resisted arrest,” the email said. Nolte, who was standing near the deputies, jumped in to help “as the violent confrontation began to escalate.”

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With Nolte’s help, Toney was brought into custody on two battery on a law enforcement charges and resisting arrest with violence. Toney, a Valrico resident, remained in the Hillsborough County Jail Aug. 23 in lieu of $6,000 bond.

The sheriff’s office “is thankful for Mr. Nolte’s assistance and willingness to get involved,” the email said. “His actions as well as the actions of the two deputies resulted in bringing Toney under control with no one being injured.”

The encounter was caught on video, which has since been released by the sheriff’s office:

Screenshot, video and booking photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office