Restaurant Worker Bludgeoned Unwanted Customer With Pipe: Police

A restaurant worker bludgeoned an unwanted customer with a metal pipe, then called the cops and showed them the closet where he put the weapon away, police said.

Omar Cardona, 38, had told the 50-year-old man to leave Dona Chelo, police said, but the unwanted customer would not budge from an outside table at the Scott Street restaurant. The man had previously been told to stay out of the restaurant.

Cardona reportedly went inside and grabbed a metal pipe — possibly a mop handle — and went back out to confront the man.

The two men struggled before Cardona viciously beat him in the head with the pipe, police said. Cardona then called the law.

When officers arrived about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, they reportedly found the beaten man standing in the parking lot and bleeding profusely from a large cut on his forehead, as well as from other lacerations. The man was taken to Silver Cross Hospital, where he was strapped onto a backboard and fitted with a neck brace.

Cardona showed officers the pipe he used to beat the man. He had put it away in a restroom storage closet, police said. Cardona was charged with aggravated battery and taken to the Will County jail.

Dona Chelo gets very good reviews on Yelp and praise for its vegan options.