A quiet evening at the “Pane, Vino e Baghino” restaurant in via Dario Campana in Rimini turned into a nightmare for the owner, Gioacchino Meli, when a Russian customer refused to pay the bill, sparking a violent attack.
The scene began when a trio of Russian women, accompanied by the twenty-year-old daughter of one of them, finished dinner. Although Meli had noticed signs of discussion between the women outside the club, she did not expect that the situation would turn into a verbal and then physical confrontation.
When the manager requested payment, one of the women flatly refused, claiming that the service had been inadequate. The request to settle the bill was met with anger, and the situation quickly got out of hand. As one of the women tried to walk away without paying, Meli, 47, tried to stop her.
What followed was a shocking act of violence. The customer physically attacked the businessman, leaving him with scratches and bruises. Meli, to escape the woman’s uncontrollable fury, was forced to barricade himself inside the place, while the customer continued to damage the structure, throwing chairs against the window.
The arrival of the police finally brought calm to the situation, but the episode left Meli in shock and undecided on how to proceed. Now, together with his lawyer, he is considering whether to file a complaint against the client.
The Russian woman’s extreme reaction surprised the other people in the room. It is difficult to imagine that a dispute over such a modest bill could lead to such an escalation of violence, the restaurateur explains to the local press. For Meli, who manages her restaurant with passion and dedication, the experience was undoubtedly traumatic. Now, as he recovers from the violence he suffered, he is also wondering how to protect himself and his business from similar situations in the future.
The video Posted by the attacked restaurateur
