Amy’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant wasn’t exactly quiet Monday. Despite being closed for the morning, the small Hatboro shop's phones were ringing off the hook.
Delivery manager Michael Quiñonez and his mom were hoping to catch their breath before opening later than usual, as they prepped for another busy day.
"We were just surging with online orders and the phones wouldn’t stop ringing,” said Quiñonez, whose dad, Omar Quiñonez owns the pizza shop.
The delayed opening was necessary for the family-owned business, as they caught up from a weekend of non-stop orders, sparked by a video showing a customer on a racist tirade directed at Omar Quiñonez on Thursday night.
“What’s wrong with that is you’re not American dude. I will look you the (expletive) up and get you the (expletive) out of our town. (Expletive) you. Give me my money back. I’m not giving my money to some illegal immigrant,” the customer said.
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The video, filmed by one of the shop's employees, lasts nearly five minutes, ending just as a police officer walked into the store.
“We had Telemundo on the TV, and she just started going off, saying she wanted a refund. We tried giving her the cash, but she didn’t want it. She said she didn’t want our dirty money. After that happened, my dad told us to record,” said Quiñonez.
It was the first time he and his family had ever experienced an incident since his dad started his business nearly 10 years ago, he said.
“I was angry. There’s no need for it just because we speak a different language,” Quiñonez said.
The video took off overnight, making its rounds on social media and prompting viewers to support the business. Quiñonez was surprised at how quickly word spread, as they heard from people from all over the country, with orders coming in from as far as San Francisco, California.
“There was a woman from Maine that had five or six pizzas sent over to the Horsham Fire Company. Someone else drove three hours from Lancaster, just to get some slices of pizza and garlic knots,” he said.
For three days in a row, the pizza shop had doubled its typical business. And while they expect things to calm down eventually, Quiñonez said they are touched by the outpouring of support from so many people.
“It’s meant the world, the continued support. It’s been constant. So many people that we’ve never even seen before came in to show their support and buy some stuff from us,” he said.
Hatboro Police Department issued a statement on theBorough of Hatboro Facebook pageFriday, saying they responded to a report of a disturbance at Amy’s Pizzeria, where they were able to de-escalate the dispute.
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The statement also included a warning to those who have seen the video.
“It has also come to the attention of the police departmentthat the video of the incident is circulating on social media and some peoplehave falsely identified the woman depicted in the video. We strongly suggest people cease and desist the attachment of false or mistaken names and identities to this video as the identity of the individual(s) involved are know (sic) to police,” it read.
While the identity of the customer shown in the video has not been released, an update was posted to the Borough of Hatboro page clearing the names of some who have been misidentified on social media.
“We canunequivocally report that those incorrectly identified on previous third party social media platforms, including but not limited to, Candice Bogar, Sally Poppert and Tracey Gaida and their associated business have absolutely nothing to do with this incident and are not the indivudual (sic) seen in the video widely posted on social media,” the post read.
Hatboro police chief James Gardner confirmed Monday the incident was still under review.
In an interview Monday morning, Hatboro Mayor Tim Schultz said he was saddened by the incident, but the behaviors displayed don’t represent an accurate reflection of the overall Hatboro community.
“Hate has no home in Hatboro. This was an unfortunate event,” he said. “Amy’s, Omar and his family, are good people. They are good for our borough. What happened was awful.”
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